What If?
by ijustkeepswimming
Summary: The past, present and future all combine to change the course of Charlie and Joey's lives on the night that Joey learns of Charlie's betrayal with Hugo...
1. Chapter 1

_Hi everyone. Thank you for being open to reading my new story. This is kind of a prologue more than a chapter but I hope it's good enough that you will continue reading. And that if you don't like it, you won't leave rude comments just for the sake of being unkind. Constructive criticism and all that… Anyway, this one is set on the night that Joey finds out about Charlie's betrayal but it has a bit of a different spin on it. Love, IJKS xxx_

**What If?**

**Chapter One**

Sitting in her patrol car, Senior Constable Charlie Buckton felt sick. She felt like her life was ending and she had no idea how to save herself.

Only a couple of hours ago, things had seemed fine and she cursed herself now for making such a big issue about a lost earring. It was sentimental to her but if her girlfriend, Joey Collins, the person she considered to be the love of her life, had never known about the jewellery going missing then none of this would have happened.

The earring had been found by Joey in Hugo Austin's house, when she had been a good Samaritan and dropped round his missing mobile phone. It hadn't taken long for her to work out the truth. Charlie had slept with him behind Joey's back on a crazy night when she had been outed as 'queer' to the whole town and then been accused of abusing Joey, who had been in her police care when they'd fallen in love.

"What the hell am I meant to do?" she asked aloud, closing her eyes and trying to eradicate the look of heartbreaking devastation on her girlfriend's face.

She wondered if she was even allowed to call her that anymore. Joey had laid into her at home and then stormed out. They'd run into each other again when a fire had broken out at the caravan park, which was where she was still sitting. Joey had been nearby and helped and Charlie, on a night shift, had been called to the scene.

She shrieked when her car door opened and someone made themselves comfortable in the passenger seat. For a second, she hoped it was Joey, come to give her a chance to explain and forgive her. But with some panic, she realised it was a man and was about to tell him to get the hell out of her car when she recognised him.

"What the…?" she mumbled.

She had come face to face with her former friend and colleague, Constable Jack Holden.

* * *

_Next time… Jack wants to help Charlie…_


	2. Chapter 2

_These beginning chapters are just little snapshots before we get into the heart of the story. I hope you enjoy it. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Two**

Charlie stared in disbelief at Jack, the man who had died months ago. Rubbing her eyes, she was convinced that she was hallucinating but when she looked again, he was still there.

"Honestly," he said. "I die and you don't even welcome me when I come back?"

Charlie's mouth hung open.

"I…"

"I'm not back from the dead, exactly," he explained. "I'm a ghost."

Charlie nodded, feeling like her mind was going to explode.

"Oh, you're a ghost," she said sarcastically. "Well, that's okay then!"

She gave a tinny laugh.

"So, have you missed me?" Jack asked.

Charlie just continued to stare at him.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked.

He shifted in his seat to look at her better.

"I'm here to stop you making a terrible mistake," he told her.

Charlie laughed again and shook her head.

"Then you're about a week too late," she told him.

Jack nodded and sighed.

"You know, I really can't believe you slept with Hugo," he said. "I mean, I love the guy… maybe a bit less than I used to but I do. He's my cousin but that was just stupid. He was wrong to take advantage of you when you were feeling so messed up but also, you should have said no."

"Oh right!" Charlie snapped. "As if I didn't know that already!"

"Hey!" Jack protested. "Don't get cranky with me. It was your fuck up. I'm just here to help you fix it."

Charlie sighed and leant back in her seat.

"There is nothing on earth that could help me fix it," she said unhappily. "If you really are some sort of divine being then I'm pretty sure you'd know that."

Jack smiled.

"Divine being," he remarked. "I like it. I should put it on my business card."

Charlie was about to ask if he really had one but stopped when she realised he was teasing.

"What am I meant to do then?" she asked. "Because I honestly have no clue. I don't think Joey is ever going to forgive me."

"Well, we've got someone working on that too," he told her. "But right now, we should get started."

"Do you really think a quick chat with a ghost is going to help me?" Charlie asked.

"It'll be a bit more than that," he said.

Clicking his fingers, the world seemed to rush around Charlie. She was utterly breathless as she found herself in the city outside her old family home.

* * *

_Next time… Joey has a visitation of her own…_


	3. Chapter 3

_For luckdog. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Three**

Joey had been walking for a long time. She'd happened upon and helped deal with a fire at the caravan but had run off when Charlie had showed up in the capacity of a police officer. They'd talked but it hadn't done any good. Joey's world was shattered and after everything she had already been through, she wasn't sure she would ever recover.

She'd briefly gone to the Surf Club but Hugo Austin, the man her beautiful Charlie had cheated on her with, had shown up. He'd tried to make excuses for her but it was too late. Charlie had broken her heart one too many times. She was adamant that it was over.

Now, sitting on the beach in the dark, she finally permitted herself to cry.

"That's a lot of pain," a voice commented.

She looked up sharply, ready to either flee or attack at the sudden presence of a man beside her. The blonde stranger handed over a tissue, which she accepted.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the man asked.

"I don't even know you," she pointed out, dabbing her eyes and hoping she didn't look as hideous as she felt.

Not that she had someone to impress anymore.

"Joey Collins, are you saying you don't recognise me?" the man asked, genuinely offended.

She turned and studied him in the dim light.

"You do look kind of familiar," she admitted. "But… no. Sorry."

"My wife used to babysit you when you were a kid," the man said.

Joey furrowed her brow. The only person that had babysat her was a woman called Angel and her husband had died on their first wedding anniversary. However, the more she looked at him, the more she realised exactly what he looked like.

"How much wine did I drink?" she wondered. "Or is this what trauma does?"

"I don't know what you mean," her visitor said.

She stared at him.

"You're dead," she said bluntly.

"No need to remind me," Shane Parrish told her a little indignantly. "Do I point out on a regular basis that you're alive?"

Joey's mouth hung open as she continued to stare.

"Seriously," she said. "Have I gone insane or something?"

"No," Shane assured her. "But I need you to gather your senses together if we're going to do this."

Joey's bewilderment grew.

"Do what?" she asked nervously.

"We're going to take a tour around the lives of Charlie Buckton and Joey Collins," he told her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I don't want to have anything to do with Charlie fucking Buckton," she snapped, tearing up the soggy tissue in her hands.

"And if by the end of the night, you feel the same," Shane said, "that's fine. But you have a journey to make first, Joey. You need to get all the facts."

"I don't want any facts about what she did," Joey said, anger welling up inside her again. "I don't ever want to think about that bitch again. Do you know what she did to me?"

"I know," Shane said softly.

"Do you know how many times she's hurt me?" Joey said, her voice cracking. "I feel like I want to die."

"Well, as someone who died too young, I'd have to advise against it," Shane told her.

She apologised. Then she wondered what on earth she thought she was doing, talking to a ghost on the beach. She looked around her in case there was anyone watching her talk to herself.

"It's fine," Shane said. "So, will you come with me and see the things I need to show you?"

Joey sighed.

"Fine," she said. "Any place has got to be better than here."

He smiled and held onto her hand. Before she knew it, she was at a house party she didn't recognise.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Jack witness the worst moment of Charlie's life…_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi everyone. Sorry for disappearing. Medication side effects and some family stuff prevented me from updating. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Four**

"What are we doing here?" Charlie asked in disbelief. "No, wait, _how _are we here?"

"Don't underestimate the power of a divine being," Jack teased.

Charlie looked irritated, not to mention confused. She stared at her old front door and then at Jack.

"So, what _are _we doing here?" she asked.

"We're looking into your past," Jack explained. "Perhaps to try and figure out why you're so messed up in the present and to stop the pattern in the future."

"Wait, am I Scrooge?" Charlie asked, horrified all over again.

Jack laughed.

"You could say that," he told her. "But don't think you're the only one who needs this tonight."

Charlie sighed and thought of Joey, wondering if she was okay. _Of course she's not okay_, she thought bitterly to herself. _You just broke her heart._

"Charlie, you need to focus here," Jack nudged. "You'll see Joey again soon enough."

Charlie frowned and looked back at the front door. She jumped when it opened and her teenage-self headed out into the night, calling goodbye to her parents. She saw the little black dress and heels she couldn't really walk in. She noted her hairstyle and her handbag. She knew exactly what night it was.

"No, Jack," she said, backing away. "I'm not living through this again. I want to go home."

She continued to look panicked but Jack kept hold of her, assuring her it would be alright.

"You know what night this is too, don't you?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"It's the night that changed your life," he replied, encouraging her to walk forward and follow her fourteen year old self down the street.

"It's the night that destroyed my life," she replied rather bitterly.

"Only if you let it," Jack said.

His calmness infuriated her. She turned on him and shoved him in the chest.

"How dare you say that?" she demanded. "What the fuck do you know?"

He held up his hands in protest.

"I didn't mean it like that," he assured her. "I just meant that even after every horror you've been through, there's still time to turn it around."

She relaxed just a little and nodded although she didn't think it was possible to turn anything around. She had already messed up and broken Joey's heart. What else did she have left?

"Hey, we can't go back and _change _the past, can we?" she asked as they started walking again.

"Would you want to?" Jack asked.

Charlie swallowed. She didn't know how to answer the question. On the one hand, who would go back and allow themselves to be assaulted? But on the other, if this particular night had never happened, her beloved Ruby would never have existed. And she knew she couldn't live without her.

"What if someone sees us?" she asked, her heart pounding as they stood outside the house party her younger self was attending.

"Nobody can see us," Jack assured her. "Like I said, we can't change anything. We just have to experience it."

"Why?" Charlie asked. "I'm still really not sure what we're doing here."

"Before you can deal with your present and your future, you have to deal with your past."

Charlie shook her head and sighed unhappily as Jack helped her thread her way through the crowd of energetic adolescents. She watched herself approach her boyfriend and let him kiss her. She closed her eyes, feeling sick and sad all at the same time. She knew exactly what was going to happen next.

* * *

_Next time… Joey finds out about Charlie's deepest, darkest secret…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Don't you think someone's going to be a bit creeped out when they find two adults, one of them dead, by the way, hanging around in a bedroom at a teenage house party?" Joey asked.

"Nobody can see us," Shane told her.

"Where are we?" Joey wanted to know. "And why are we wherever we are?"

"We're about to meet your girlfriend when she was a teenager," Shane told her.

He stood and looked in the mirror, making sure he was as attractive as a spirit as he had once been as a man.

"I hardly look dead, by the way," he said, turning back to her.

"I don't look high," Joey replied. "But I must be. Because _this _isn't possible."

She rolled her eyes and settled back in the arm chair in the corner of what she assumed was a parental bedroom.

"Anything's possible, Joey," Shane told her, sitting in the other vacant seat. "I mean, you never thought Charlie would ever be interested in you, did you?"

"And look how that turned out," Joey shot back.

"It's not over yet," he reminded her.

"It really is," she insisted.

They were interrupted by the bedroom door opening. Joey's breath caught as she saw Charlie, at least fifteen years younger, enter the room. She was still breathtaking, which made Joey worry that she was being a bit creepy. Insisting that it didn't matter because she was trapped in some sort of dream, she sat forward, happy to just go with it.

She watched Charlie close the door and perch on the end of the bed. She looked flustered and concerned, like she had a lot on her mind. She stood again and looked at her reflection in the same mirror Shane had just left.

"What's going on?" Joey asked.

"Something really bad is about to happen," Shane admitted gravely. "I'm sorry that you have to see it but it's important if you're going to understand Charlie."

"I don't care about…"

She stopped talking when the door opened and a teenage boy entered the room, clearly having found the girl he was looking for.

"What's going to happen?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

She watched Charlie look unsure as the boy, good looking and clean cut, approached her. They kissed and she watched Charlie melt into his arms.

"If making me watch Charlie swooning over some guy is the way to make me feel better that she fucked some other guy behind my back, it's not very well thought out," Joey told Shane as she watched Charlie stumble back onto the bed.

She froze when she saw Charlie try and fail to stop proceedings.

"Shane…" she managed, her eyes wide.

She watched the love of her life struggle with the boy who would not release her and was tearing at her clothes.

"Shane!" she yelled, hurtling forward.

She tried to intervene. She tried to push the boy away and save the woman she loved. But she went straight through them. She wasn't really there.

"Shane!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Then everything went black.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Joey breathed when the world came back into focus.

She sat up from where she was curled on the floor and looked expectantly at her guide.

"Why did you do that?" she asked tearfully. "Why did you make me watch…?"

She jolted to her feet, realising they were still in the same room. The boy was gone and Charlie was dressed, curled up in ball in tears.

"Why?" Joey repeated.

She turned back to Shane who didn't look very happy.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wish you hadn't had to see that but… it was the only way."

"Only way to what?" Joey asked desperately, unable to tear her gaze away from Charlie.

"To explain where she's come from," Shane said. "Why she's so damaged."

"Did this really happen to her?" Joey asked, not wanting to believe it.

"I'm afraid so," Shane said, standing beside her. "And I'm afraid it gets worse."

"How the hell can it get worse than that?" Joey asked, still crying.

By the time Shane clicked his fingers and the scene moved, Joey wished she hadn't asked.

* * *

_Next time… Joey learns the truth about Ruby…_


	6. Chapter 6

_Just for the record, this story isn't about excusing what Charlie did to Joey because of her past. It's about exploring the things that lead up to that moment. And this story certainly isn't intended to disrespect rape victims. That's a pretty harsh assessment of me and the story, I think. Also, without knowing each other's own personal experiences, it's probably best not to judge each other. But anyway, I just didn't want anyone to think I was saying it was okay for Charlie to have hurt Joey. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Six**

Joey watched with her mouth hanging open as teenage Charlie stood in front of her bedroom mirror. Her tummy was swollen and there were constant tears in her eyes. Joey glanced back at Shane who stood quietly behind her. On behalf of his sex, he felt awful to have to see what the poor girl had gone through.

"Shane, is she…?" Joey asked.

Shane nodded but remained quiet. Joey stepped forward, close enough to touch Charlie if she had really been there - although, she wasn't now entirely sure who was real and who wasn't. Maybe it was neither of them. Tears filled her own eyes as she studied Charlie's pretty face. She saw a grief in her expression that she recognised. A lump ached in her throat as she watched Charlie touch her belly, staring at herself as if she couldn't quite believe what had happened to her.

"Charlie doesn't have a child…" Joey said to Shane.

The scene switched again.

* * *

"Is Joey seeing all this?" Charlie asked.

She and Jack were stood in a hospital room, watching herself scream and cry through contractions.

"She is," Jack confirmed.

Charlie searched the room, desperate to find the woman she loved. But if she was there, she was invisible.

"I don't want her to have to…"

She sighed, cutting herself off.

"It's not an easy thing," Jack said gently. "I had no idea the kind of horror you'd been through in your life, Charlie."

"You mean my scathing personality wasn't a clue?" she asked sharply.

"I never thought you had a scathing personality," he insisted.

She turned and offered him a wry smile.

"You hated me when I first arrived," she reminded him.

"Hate is a bit strong," Jack told her. "You were just…"

"Abrasive?" she suggested.

"For want of a better word," he replied.

Charlie sighed and turned back, watching herself pale and sweat and cry on the hospital bed. Every moment was already etched onto her soul but it was still hard to see it again.

* * *

"We need to do a c-section," the Doctor decided.

From the other side of Charlie's hospital bed, Joey watched in horror. She still couldn't believe that Charlie, _her _Charlie had been through so much pain and suffering.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked Shane worriedly.

"She's too young to be having a baby," he told her.

"I know that!" she snapped. "Why do they have to cut her open?"

"I wasn't being facetious, Joey," he assured her. "What I meant was that because she's so young, her pelvis is too narrow. She's not ready to bear a child. If they don't take the baby our surgically, it could kill both of them."

Joey sighed and leant against him. She felt protected when he put his arms around her.

"Where did you learn a word like facetious?" she remarked.

"Education in Heaven is pretty high brow," he joked.

She smiled.

"Is that where you normally are?" she asked. "When you're not being the ghost of Christmas past or whatever this weird night is supposed to be?"

"Yes," he told her softly but shared nothing more.

She sighed again and returned her attention to Charlie, who was still crying, fragile and broken on the bed. She watched as she drifted off into anaesthetised sleep so that her baby and herself could be saved.

* * *

Grown up Charlie wept in the recovery room as she watched herself hold her baby. She had cried throughout her pregnancy and in the lead up to the birth. And thinking about it, she felt like she had never stopped. Her heart pounded as she witnessed herself holding her precious child in her arms, unaware of the continued horror that would occur.

Undetected by anyone, Joey and Shane stood on the other side, also watching Charlie clutch her baby. Joey wiped her own tears aware as her heart poured out to Charlie and the baby both. She looked up as Ross and Elsie Buckton entered the room to see their daughter. The situation was awkward. Everyone but the child felt the anxiety and pain of the situation they were in.

"Does she have a name?" Elsie asked softly.

Charlie nodded.

"Her name is Ruby," she said.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie gets more of an insight into Joey's past…_


	7. Chapter 7

_It seems there has been a big debate on this one so I thought I'd do an extra update and say my bit. My points are these:_

_This story is about way more than I've posted so far – we are only on chapter seven. Give it a chance!_

_Everyone is entitled to state their opinion but please do not state it as fact. The only fact here is what I state to be or not be my intention with this story – and the intention is NOT to excuse Charlie cheating on Joey and make some judgement on rape victims. I firmly believe that all our life experiences lead up to who we are in the present moment, be it good, bad or ugly so of course there is going to be some kind of connection between young Charlie and current Charlie but I'm not saying that she cheated because of what happened to her._

_It saddens me that that writers on here put their hearts and souls into stories and people are happy to read and not comment but the moment they read something they don't like, then they've got loads to say for themselves. Quite frankly, I find that really rude. It's pretty much the opposite of 'if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all'._

_Kylie, you kind of contradict yourself in term of accusing me of saying that Charlie is the way all rape victims behave and then remark that Joey is also a rape victim and doesn't behave like that. That's my whole point! People react to different things in different ways. I believe it's called human nature. So yes, I will deny that that this story is set up the way Guest explicitly stated. It's not. Have your opinion all you like but as the writer, I know exactly how the story is set up, I know where it's going and I know what the journey will entail. So, I'm sorry, but you're both completely wrong._

_Nobody on here 'blindly defends' me. But there are readers such as Thane, Blue and Jensy that read my work and understand it. Leave them alone._

_I am very sorry to hear about what happened to your partner and to your ex-partner. Those things are some of the worst things that can happen to a person and it's the kind of thing that stays with you for your whole life. But please do not come on here acting as if you're the only one who knows what they're talking about. You don't know me. You don't know what my life is like and you don't what experiences I have had. And I'm not going to brandish them on here except to say that I know what I'm writing about._

_Constructive criticism has never been a problem for me. In fact I welcome it. But attacking me and my readers is not on, especially when people don't have the guts to sign in. I've been hassled by 'Guest' for a while now and I'm sick of it. If there was a way I could block anonymous reviews I would do it in a heartbeat. Like I said, people are welcome to their opinions but if you don't enjoy a story then don't read it, don't start harassing people on a regular basis. There are plenty of other writers and stories out there. Go and read those! This site is meant to be fun but it's just turning into a horrible place to interact with people._

_Anyway, sorry that was a bit long and here's the next chapter where we see a bit of Joey's history. I'm running out of time now but I'll be back later today with my normal updates. Love, IJKS xxx_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Joey stared at teenage Charlie, holding her baby in tears. She looked back rather panicked at Shane whose expression was grim.

"How can…? I mean, does this mean that…?"

Shane nodded.

"Ruby is Charlie's daughter, not her sister," he explained.

"Does Ruby know that?"

He shook his head.

"She was never told."

"What… what happened?" Joey asked, looking back at Charlie. "She looks like she wants to keep her."

"She tried," Shane said. "But she was so vulnerable and so scared."

Joey nodded sadly. She understood what Charlie had been through with that boy but to have fallen pregnant from such brutality made her feel sick. She had no idea how she would have coped if the same thing had happened to her after Robbo's attack.

"She tried really hard," Shane said. "But she panicked and ran away for a year. She lived with her aunt and tried to heal. By the time she came home, Ruby had been parented by Ross and Elsie. They all agreed that it would be better if they adopted her and Charlie played the role of sister."

"But that's so harsh," Joey said sadly. "Charlie would have been a good mum. Why didn't they give her time to…?"

She sighed and approached the bed undetected. She looked at Ruby's sweet face and into Charlie's tear filled blue eyes.

"You're just a baby yourself, Charlie," she said softly.

She felt like her heart was breaking.

* * *

"So the Powers That Be or God or whoever it is that sent you thinks that you humiliating me and telling Joey the secret I'm most ashamed of, is the way to make her love me again?" Charlie asked Jack bitterly as she watched herself weep over Ruby.

"I don't think that's exactly the prescription," Jack said. "But if you want to keep her, you have to let her in, Charlie. You have to let her love you."

"Well, she already hates me so don't you think your pearls of wisdom are a bit late?" she snapped.

"It's never too late," Jack assured her.

Charlie eyed him quizzically, making him laugh.

"Okay, perhaps that isn't so convincing coming from a dead guy who didn't even get to celebrate a year with his wife," he admitted. "But what I mean is that it's not too late for you, Charlie. If you play this right, you've got a long life ahead of you."

"If I play this right?" Charlie asked. "What, if I get it wrong, I die or something?"

He looked troubled. Charlie's concern increased.

"Look, we're not there yet," he said quickly. "We're still in the past. And we've still got a lot to see. It's time for you to find out a little bit about where Joey's coming from."

Immediately, the scene changed.

* * *

"Oh, great," Joey frowned when she found herself watching her younger self walking to school alone. "Now we get my humiliation."

"Fair's fair," Shane remarked.

Joey sighed and nodded, still scarred by the pain she had seen Charlie suffer.

"I guess she already knows I'm a loser," she said. "That's probably why she couldn't commit to me for longer than thirty seconds. She knew who I really was."

"That's not why she cheated on you," Shane interjected as they continued to follow the path from Joey's house to the school.

"Then why did she?" Joey asked, her voice catching at the memory.

"That's for you to ask her," Shane said. "When this night is done, you'll have a choice. You can either talk things through or walk away."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"You'll find out," he replied.

Joey sighed again and continued to watch herself. She was in a school uniform that she'd hated. It was too loose, having been passed down through three cousins who hadn't been the same size as she was. It was worn and there was a stain on the hem that her mother had never managed to get out.

"Hey, Joey!" a boy yelled.

Both Joey's looked up in surprise. The adult Joey frowned when she realised her teenage self was about to get hassled by some of the popular kids on the way to school. This had been her life day in and day out. She had been miserable. She wondered if that's why Charlie's betrayal had hurt that much more. This had been the first time in her entire life that she'd been happy. And then it had all been destroyed.

* * *

"Why are those kids being so horrible to her?" Charlie asked, horrified to be watching them push her around and call her names.

"She didn't have the easiest time when she was a kid," Jack told her. "That's why she's never really had any confidence."

"And I finally made her happy and then I let her down," Charlie realised sadly.

She watched as teenage Joey was pushed over and had her shoes stolen. She lurched forward and tried to wrestle the shoes back but of course the scene played on. Charlie couldn't affect it in anyway. Still she crouched down and tried to check that Joey, who looked to be around thirteen, sitting still on the ground. Joey wiped her eyes and picked herself up. Then she changed direction and headed down to the docks. There was no way she was going to go to school.

* * *

_Next time… teenage Joey misbehaves and gets into lots of trouble…_


	8. Chapter 8

_Anyone who isn't signing in for reviews, please could you put a username in anyway as if I see 'guest' or indeed 'Kylie' as the title then the message will just be deleted and not read. And I don't want to delete anyone worth reading, as I believe that is very bad manners. But quite frankly, if I'm not 'allowed' to defend myself on here then people that make me have to shouldn't get a chance to spew their poison. Grow up, get a life, find a hobby, whatever you like but do it the hell away from me. Abusive reviews and personal attacks won't be acknowledged. That's the last thing I'm going to say except to thank Blue, Jensy, Thane and Mabs. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Eight**

"This is so embarrassing," Joey said as she stood with Shane, watching her younger self hiding down at the docks watching the boats go by. "Does Charlie really have to see this?"  
"It's part of the process, I'm afraid," Shane replied.

Joey shook her head.

"Hang on," she said, as she watched herself stand up, looking shifty. "I remember this day."

Shane chuckled as they watched teenage Joey creep along the wharf and expertly commandeer a vacant boat.

"You rebel!" Shane enthused.

He had got up to a lot of mischief in his short life but he had never stolen a boat. He was impressed.

"Not my finest hour," Joey giggled. "I got into so much trouble!"

"Oh, I know!" Shane replied. "We'll get to that."

* * *

"She just stole a boat!" Charlie squeaked in shock.

Jack laughed and touched her shoulder. Before she could speak, they were both on deck with Joey who was having a whale of a time at the wheel. Charlie hurried up behind her, not sure if it was wrong or not to still find her so beautiful even though she was so young. But it was an innocent kind of beauty, admiration. She watched her enjoy herself, feeling entirely free.

"You always were at your happiest on a boat," she mused.

Jack stepped up behind her.

"It was on something like this that you fell in love, wasn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Charlie said, smiling wistfully. "She took me out for the day to say thank you for helping her. We had so much fun. We ate, we talked, we laughed, we danced… I came so close to kissing her but I panicked and I ran away."

Jack nodded, giving her space to talk.

"And now I can't believe that having been with her for the past week, I'll never be with her again," she said.

She sighed heavily and studied teenage Joey enjoying herself.

"I love her so much, Jack," she said. "I wanted to give her this…"

"A boat?" Jack asked, knowing that wasn't what she meant.

"I wanted to make her this happy," she said. "I wanted to give her the world. I wanted to wake up and make it my mission to put this smile on her face every single day. She deserves to be happy. She deserves everything I've been incapable of giving her."

"So claw it back," Jack told her.

"How can I ever make her forgive me?" she asked, genuinely needing an answer.

"I can't tell you that," he said. "But my first suggestion is that you're honest with her."

"Well, I don't get much choice now, do I?" Charlie snapped bitterly, as if it was his fault. "Some dead guy or girl showed her what happened to me."

Jack nodded, remaining calm and reasonable.

"It was for the greater good, Charlie," he said. "She'll never understand you completely if she doesn't know where you've come from…"

"I know," Charlie interrupted, although she was no less happy about it.

"I doubt she's thrilled that you're seeing how she was bullied when she was a kid," Jack ventured. "But hopefully this will make you understand her more completely too."

Charlie chewed her lip, focussing on Joey at the wheel.

"She's come from such a vulnerable place," she said. "I was the first person that she'd trusted in a long time. And I let her down."

* * *

"Don't go home, don't go home, don't go home," Joey begged.

But relentless, her younger self trudged back up the path to her house and let herself in. Joey looked at Shane who looked just as glum.

"How did you go through all this at home?" he asked, genuinely baffled. "I mean, your family always seemed so great."

Joey shrugged.

"I didn't know any different," she said. "And it's not like it was every day. And to be fair, I did steal a boat. That was pretty bad manners."

Shane laughed softly and shook his head. They went inside the house and watched Joey's father storm downstairs to lay into his teenage daughter for what she had done.

* * *

"Fuck!" Charlie winced as she watched the younger Joey being battered by her father.

She hurried forward and tried to intervene, as she had done when she'd seen her be bullied by those horrible school kids. Tears stung her eyes as she watched Joey weep but dutifully take her punishment.

"How dare you steal a boat?!" Mr Collins shouted, whacking his daughter across the head.

"How dare you do this to your daughter?!" Charlie screamed at him.

She watched Joey be knocked to the ground. He towered over her and hit her again.

"Jack, do something!" Charlie begged, kneeling beside the girl that would become her girlfriend.

The late police officer knelt beside her and took her hand, although neither of them could feel it.

"I wish I could," he said. "But it's moments like these that make her who she is."

Charlie wiped her eyes as she watched Joey curl up into a ball in a bid to protect herself.

"No wonder she never trusted anyone before," Charlie said sadly. "She finally took the risk and believed in someone and I treated her just as badly. She's never going to forgive me for what I've done. I've lost her."

* * *

_Next time… Jack has a warning while Charlie and Joey see their first night together…_


	9. Chapter 9

_Just to let you know, updates might be a bit few and far between. I've suddenly got labrinthitis and I'm confined to bed. Being a bit stubborn and still trying to do a few things but I'm not sure how long that will last. And you might have just got a notification of an update of 'Baby Mine' that doesn't exist. I have no idea why I just did that! Anyway, __I hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you again to everyone that stood up for me over the weekend. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Nine**

Charlie felt sick and dizzy as she and Jack whirled back to present day. She blinked several times as she adjusted to sitting back in her car. For a moment, she thought, hoped that the whole thing had been some sort of surreal dream but no, Jack was still sat beside her.

"Do you get to interact with the world a lot, Jack?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "We get to watch up there but we don't get to really experience the world of the living."

He sighed, looking sad.

"Are you happy where you are?" she asked.

"I am," he said. "It's peaceful. But…"

"You miss Martha," Charlie concluded.

He nodded, looking wistfully out of the window.

"I just wish I could hold her in my arms one more time," he admitted. "I watch her and I'm proud of the way she's healing, the way she's building herself up. But I can see her starting to fall for Hugo."

"Martha and Hugo?" Charlie asked incredulously.

Jack looked startled and guilty.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you that," he said. "I'm not supposed to share the future until we get there and even then, it's meant to be changeable."

He sighed again.

"But Martha and Hugo are going to get together soon," he said.

"No wonder she was so disgusted when she saw me do the walk of shame," Charlie murmured. "It wasn't just because I'm a cheating bitch."

Jack swallowed but remained quiet.

"Does it hurt?" she asked. "Seeing her fall for someone else?"

"If I wasn't dead already, it would kill me," he admitted.

"Even though he's your cousin?" Charlie asked. "Or because of it?"

"You need to be careful of him, Charlie," Jack instructed, ignoring the fact that he was breaking the rules.

"Bit late for that!" Charlie remarked bitterly.

"I'm serious," Jack said.

The tone of his voice surprised her.

"He's not the man I knew," he said. "He's not the person I grew up with. And he's not the kind of man I want Martha to be with."

Charlie frowned, puzzled by everything he had said but careful to make a mental note of it.

* * *

"So, what happens now?" Joey wondered.

"Now, we see Charlie's present," Shane told her.

Joey looked up sharply from where they were sitting on the beach again.

"I think I know quite enough about her present," she snapped.

"Just trust me," he requested.

She eyed him suspiciously. Her ability to trust had plummeted this evening. She nodded and he moved to change their scene. She stopped him quickly.

"I don't have to see her and Hugo… _you know_, do I?" she asked worriedly.

That really would be enough to finish her off.

"You'll see how it starts," Shane said awkwardly.

Joey pulled a face.

"But I promise to spare you the details," he added. "And we're not quite there yet anyway."

She sighed, supposing she didn't really have all that much choice in the matter.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be," Joey replied.

* * *

She blinked several times as she got used to being in the hotel room she and Charlie had spent their first night together in. She stepped closer, surveying herself lying in bed with Charlie.

"Damn, we got here too late," Shane remarked.

Joey looked back confused and then giggled as she realised what he meant.

"It was damn hot as well," she told him, turning back to the bed.

She stood on Charlie's side, watching her lay on her side, leaning over her sleeping girlfriend.

"I bet it was," Shane smirked, stepping up beside her.

They watched as Charlie studied Joey's sleeping form. She sighed and shifted, looking like she had something on her mind.

"I love you so much, Joey," she whispered to the girl who remained oblivious. "And one day I hope I'll be able to tell you this stuff, really tell you how I feel, when you're awake."

She laughed softly. The present day Joey managed a smile.

"I feel so scared right now," Charlie admitted. "I've never felt like this about someone before and I'm terrified that I'm going to mess it up. I've hurt you so badly already and I know I must be running out of chances."

She sighed and gazed into Joey's sleeping face.

"I think tonight has been the best night of my life," she continued. "And now that I know what it's like to be with you, I never ever want to be without you again. You mean everything to me."

She closed her eyes. Joey was concerned by the look of despair of her face. She moved closer to watch her more intently, wondering if that's what she really felt.

"Please don't let me mess this up," Charlie said to herself. "Please don't let me mess this up."

Joey sank onto the edge of the bed.

"I wish you hadn't, Charlie," she said softly. "I wish to God you hadn't."

She wiped a tear and watched herself shift in the bed. Sleepy Joey opened her eyes and peered up at Charlie.

"Did you say something?" she asked.

Charlie opened her eyes and plastered a smile on her face, drawing her into her arms.

"I was just rambling about how much I love you," she said.

They kissed.

"I'm so happy to be here with you tonight," Joey said.

Charlie kissed her again.

"Me too," she said. "I can't even tell you how much."

* * *

"Is Joey seeing this?" Charlie asked Jack.

The two police officers were stood on Joey's side of the bed.

"Yep," Jack replied.

Charlie cringed, full of embarrassment.

"Is there no privacy left in the world?" she wondered.

"Not when your future happiness depends on it," Jack told her.

Charlie watched the snuggling couple on the bed and she could reach out and touch the feeling she'd had then. She had never been so happy in all her life than she had been that night. Nothing had ever meant so much.

"I like the idea, Jack, but I don't think watching me not wanting to fuck up is going to make her forgive me for actually doing it," she said sourly.

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Jack said carefully. "I wouldn't underestimate how much she feels for you."

Charlie sighed.

"I hurt her too badly, Jack," she stated.

"Maybe," he agreed. "But we wouldn't be here right now if there wasn't any hope."

Then the scene changed.

* * *

Joey swallowed when she saw Charlie sitting beside Hugo on the beach on what turned out to be a particularly fateful night.

"I don't want to see this," she said, her voice catching.

Shane apologised but it was necessary. He put his arm around her as they watched Charlie deny that she was gay and then kiss Hugo. It was obvious from the moment it started, exactly where it was going.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey see the events the played out for both of them on the night they were forced to separate…_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Why?" Joey screamed, invisible to Charlie as she made out with Hugo on the beach. "Why are you doing this? Why won't you stop?"

She kicked sand hard but it didn't land on them. Tears burned her eyes as she sank down beside them, longing for it to stop. She analysed how much Charlie might be enjoying herself and whether she had ever really measured up when Charlie apparently loved sleeping with men so much.

"Why don't you love me enough?" she asked, her voice and heart breaking.

Before she knew it, the scene changed.

* * *

Joey stepped back beside Shane as she watched Charlie slip out of bed where Hugo, spent from their sexual exploits, was snoring quietly, face down on the mattress.

"Why are you putting me through this?" Joey asked.

"I'm sorry," Shane replied.

"Not you," she said. "Her."

He was surprised by the venom in her voice as they followed Charlie into the bathroom. The police officer washed her face vigorously and put the seat down on the toilet in order to sit on it. She rested her elbows on her knees and her face in her palms. Joey glanced at Shane before peering at her girlfriend. She swallowed uncertainly as Charlie began to weep.

"What have I done?" she heard her sob.

Anger took over and Charlie leapt up and punched the wall. It wasn't hard enough to bleed or to break anything but it was hard enough to hurt. Joey remembered commenting on the bruise and she had claimed it must have happened at work.

Joey stood too, watching Charlie's every move. She watched her clutch her hand in pain and then kick the wall instead. She rubbed her face and pulled her hair before hitting herself hard on the head.

"Stop!" Joey begged, reaching for her but not making contact for she was essentially a ghost. "Stop!"

She was exhausted from the emotions charging through her and her heart was beating too fast.

"Charlie…"

She wondered how she could hate her so much one minute and love her so much the next.

"What the fuck did I do?" Charlie cursed, hitting her head again.

She sank onto the floor in a heap and sobbed. She knew she had ruined everything.

* * *

"Well, that was fun," Charlie remarked sourly when she found herself back in her car.

She too had watched her night with Hugo and every scene sickened her.

"It had to be done, I'm afraid," Jack replied evenly.

"And how exactly is making that poor girl relive what I did to her going to make her love me again?" Charlie snapped bitterly.

"She needed to see why you did it," Jack told her. "And she needed to see how much you regretted it."

Charlie shook her head and cried. Before she knew it, the scene had changed.

* * *

It was still the night that Charlie and Joey hadn't been allowed to see each other. Joey let herself into the caravan that police had put her up in. They had offered a motel but the most local one was the one that Robbo had nearly killed her in so she hadn't fancied it much. And even thought she didn't really know Miles and Kirsty and their family all that well, she'd felt safe being near them and Alf on a long night away from the woman she loved.

Charlie watched her as she sighed heavily and sank down on the bed. She pulled her phone out and smiled as she flicked through photographs of Charlie. They comforted her and she made a mental note to get them printed. Maybe even the nicest one could go in a frame. That's what girlfriends did, wasn't it?

She sighed again and lay down, studying the ceiling. She picked up her phone but put it down again, knowing that Charlie could get into big trouble she tried to make contact.

"I miss you," she said. "I can't wait for this night to be over. I can't wait to be with you again."

Charlie leant against Jack as she cried. She so wished that night had gone a different way.

* * *

"You stupid fucking arsehole," Charlie muttered as she watched Hugo invite Joey further into the house in order to promote his business.

Her heart sank as she watched Joey find the earring on the desk. She hated herself and she hated Hugo too. Jack remained silent as he stood beside her.

"Why can't he tell that she's devastated?" Charlie wondered.

To her, it was plainly obvious that Joey had figured out the truth and was hurt and trying to hold herself together as she manipulated Hugo into confirming her fears. She hated him for falling for it, for dropping her in in and for helping her break Joey's heart.

* * *

The scene switched to the home they shared. Charlie watched herself hang up the phone before Joey arrived home. She shuddered even now at the level of anger in Joey's voice as she refused to listen to Charlie's excuses.

"Don't touch me," Joey hissed, when Charlie tried to touch her arm and get her to talk.

But both in the scene and observing it, Charlie and Joey both feared it was too late.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey learn of Charlie's future relationship with Angelo…_


	11. Chapter 11

_For Mabs. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Eleven**

"Where are we going now?" Charlie wondered.

Sure there was no more 'present' to discover. They'd reached tonight already.

"Now, we're going into the future," Jack told her.

She looked a little startled.

"Like _Doctor Who_?" she asked.

He chuckled.

"Not quite like that," he said. "But this is the life you could lead if you don't do whatever it takes to get Joey back."

Charlie nodded and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" Jack asked.

"No," Charlie replied.

The scene changed anyway and she found herself knocking on a familiar door.

"Wait…" she managed.

She was stunned when Angelo Rosetta opened up and she fell into his arms.

"What the fuck am I doing?" she asked, utterly horrified.

She glanced at Jack, who looked equally uncomfortable. Angelo was the man who had killed him after all.

"Joey's left town," he explained. "She said she'd be back in three months and you could try again but she won't return."

Charlie's heart ached at the thought.

"Angelo got off the murder charges," Jack said. "He cut a deal to work on a secret case and gain his freedom."

The bitterness in his voice was clear.

"And you're sad and lonely and right at this moment, you believe that Ruby is about to lose her virginity to Xavier," he continued, staring at the closed door in front of them.

Neither of them liked to think about what was going on inside.

"But still, why would I…? I hate him! He killed my friend… he killed… you."

If she hated herself now, she knew she would hate herself even more in the future. She just hoped that this was not a future she had to endure.

"I'm afraid it gets worse," Jack told her.

* * *

"Can't say I'm surprised," Joey remarked bitterly.

She too had seen Charlie steal away into the night to hook up with a murderer.

"She never did have any class."

Shane sighed and put an arm on her shoulder.

"You can save her from this," he said.

"I don't want to fucking save her!" Joey snapped. "It's not difficult to stop yourself fucking every man that looks at you. You just don't do it!"

She was exhausted from all the emotions swirling around inside her. One minute her heart was breaking over what Charlie had endured as a teenager. Then she'd been happy to see them together and in love. The next minute she was furious with her for sleeping with Hugo. But then she'd been deeply affected by the state she had been in afterwards. And now, she was furious with her all over again.

"Maybe it's time to move on," Shane suggested.

The scene changed.

* * *

"Charlie!" Joey shrieked in horror as she saw the woman she reluctantly loved being run over with a car.

Instinct took over and she rushed forward, kneeling on the floor.

"You can fuck off," she snapped bitterly at Angelo, who remained oblivious to her presence.

He too knelt by the woman _he _loved and called an ambulance for help.

"Charlie," Joey said gently.

She loved her and hated her all at the same time but nothing in her would ever want to see her hurt.

"Charlie…"

She was surprised to find tears escape her eyes and only turned her attention when she heard the familiar voice of her brother, Brett, someone she would never forgive for his part in their breakup, claiming that the accident wasn't his fault.

* * *

"I'm _dating _him?" Charlie asked in sheer horror.

Jack chuckled softly.

"You've just been hit by a car," he remarked. "And your concern is about who you're with?"

"I'm with _Angelo_!" Charlie protested, pulling a disgusted face. "I mean, I don't think I'm a good person by any stretch of the imagination but I thought even I had standards."

She frowned and watched her 'boyfriend' tend to her while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. Behind her, Jack thought of Hugo. Charlie had no idea who she'd broken her relationship up for.

* * *

"What's wrong with her?" Joey asked quietly.

The scene had changed to the house and Charlie was sat on the sofa as if in some sort of trance. Shane watched Joey hurry up to her, full of tormented concern. She took her hand but of course, Charlie couldn't feel it.

"Shane?" Joey asked fearfully.

"Ruby knows the truth," Shane explained.

"About the rape?" Joey asked, her voice rather panicked. "About who Charlie really is?"

Shane nodded. Joey turned her attention back to Charlie, who looked like her heart was breaking. It was an expression not that far different to the pain Joey had detected in her eyes this very night, when Joey had learned her own truth.

"What's going to happen?" she asked worriedly.

"Nothing will ever be the same again," Shane informed her. "Ruby's going to move out and then run away. When she comes back, she'll struggle with Charlie a great deal and insist on living away from her, with Irene. She'll break Xavier's heart and start dating Geoff. But that won't last either."

Joey's heart felt heavy.

"If I tried to make things work with Charlie, would things go differently?" she asked.

"Yes," Shane said. "Ruby would still find out but in a much better way. You'd be the buffer to protect them both and keep them together."

"Isn't _Angelo _any good at that?" Joey asked, pulling a face.

She said his name with a high level of bitterness.

"No," Shane said. "After the car accident, he found out about you. He broke up with Charlie because she wasn't honest with him and didn't tell him."

"Always ashamed…" Joey remarked.

"He'll get back with her over this," Shane told her. "And he will support her. But right now, while Charlie's imploding, he's dropping her in it and telling her about the rape. Charlie hadn't got that far before Ruby had walked out."

"How stupid is this guy?" Joey wondered.

She turned back to Charlie, stroking her hand and wishing that she wasn't so broken.

"It's going to be a long road before Charlie and Ruby can restore their relationship," Shane told her. "And they won't have long before it'll be too late."

Joey jerked her head up, panicked.

"Sorry?" she said.

"Let's move on," Shane suggested.

The scene changed again.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey watch Charlie's life with Angelo and then Brax…_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"You cannot be serious!" Joey exclaimed.

She and Shane were invisible in Leah's lounge watching Charlie in Angelo's arms on the sofa. She leant in close and studied Charlie's expression. Her smile was fake and her eyes were haunted. She stood back up and looked at Shane.

"He's just told her that he nearly cheated on her and she wants to move in with him?" she demanded, as if it was his fault. "What the hell is she thinking? Where on earth has her self-esteem gone? Her dignity?"

"I think it sailed away with you when you left," Shane offered.

She glared at him.

"Are you saying this pathetic life she's living is _my _fault?" she demanded.

He held up in mock defence.

"I'm just here to help," he said. "Don't take it out on me."

She turned back to the couch and heard Angelo make some stupid joke about Charlie's sexuality. She slapped him but of course, she wasn't really there.

"Wanker," she murmured as the scene changed again.

* * *

"Just when I think I can't be more disgusted with myself, I plummet to new depths," Charlie remarked as she found herself watching herself waiting for some sort of secret rendezvous. "What the hell was I thinking getting with him in the first place? And why on earth have I asked him to move in with me? He nearly cheated on me! And he's Angelo!"

She pulled a face and shuddered at his name, looking helplessly at Jack who also looked unimpressed.

"Hey, I like the guy even less than you do!" he said.

Charlie sighed and apologised for being insensitive.

"This must hurt you," she ventured.

He nodded quietly.

"My life has been taken from me and he's not even paying the price," he said sadly. "It was an accident. I know that. But it was stupid one. He should never have shot wildly into the dark. That's one of the first things they teach you in training. You need to see your target and know it's the right thing you do before you fire."

He shook his head in disgust.

"And now I'm gone and Martha's fallen into Hugo's clutches…"

He pulled a face. Charlie felt terrible for him.

"And Angelo gets his freedom, he gets to play the role of the hero, he gets to run his own restaurant…"

"What happened to being a cop?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Don't ask," he said. "It's a long and tedious story."

Charlie nodded, pulling a face as she watched herself wait for goodness knows who.

"And he gets the woman of his dreams," Jack added. "Although, thankfully that particular misery go round has ended by now."

He nodded as a man approached Charlie.

"Who am I fucking now?" she snapped, very aware that this was some sort of secret assignation.

She stepped forward and peered at the broad, tattooed man.

"No fucking way!" Charlie screeched as she watched herself kiss Darryl 'Brax' Braxton, the leader of the River Boys gang, who had been terrorising the local community for years.

She turned back to Jack in horror.

"What am I doing?"

"I believe you're falling in love with him," he replied.

Charlie shook her head in disbelief.

"I would never fall in love with a criminal," she declared.

"Hello? Does Angelo Rosetta ring a bell?"

Charlie looked evermore disgusted.

"What happens to him in the end?" she asked.

"I can't really say," he told her. "But he gets his dream of a perfect fucking family."

The bitterness was evident in his voice.

"But anyway, you've got bigger problems," he said.

Charlie turned back to look at herself and Brax. She had a very bad taste in her mouth.

* * *

"Wow, she really has no standards, has she?" Joey remarked, also watching the scene.

She shook her head in disgust and stood closer to Shane, trying to mask her hurt with anger.

"It really makes me feel good, you know," she said. "That she was so damn ashamed of me and couldn't stay faithful for five minutes and yet she's more than happy to parade around with these guys. It's like, they can do whatever they like, even if it's against the law, just because they're men."

She shuddered in disgust and was surprised when her face became wet with tears. Shane put a gentle arm around her shoulder.

"Why doesn't she love me enough?" she asked. "I don't think I could ever move on from her. I don't think I could love someone else. And yet… here she is… She's with yet another guy and she doesn't even care about me."

"This is only one possible future, Joey," Shane reminded her. "Not everything on this night has to come true."

* * *

_Next time... Charlie and Joey watch Charlie sacrifice her morals and lose her life thanks to her romance with Brax…_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Various scenes of Charlie's turbulent life with Brax had played and now, apparently after some big storm, Charlie was out for a run with her music on. Joey sighed but didn't admit to Shane that when she and Charlie had got together, they had got very sappy one night and put together a romantic playlist. She wondered if this version of Charlie still had it somewhere. She wondered if this Charlie even remembered her at all.

"I just don't get where she's coming from," Joey sighed as she and her guide followed her. "This man is a criminal and he's not even sorry for it. At least Angelo seemed to acknowledge that he broke the law, even if he didn't understand that he was still an arsehole. But this Brax… he just…"

She pulled a disgusted face.

"He's slept with other women, he's hurt her so many times, he regularly breaks the law, he's sucking her into this murky life… one that Charlie's employed to put an end to," she continued. "I mean, does she really love him that much that she can turn her back on every value she's ever had?"

Shane put a protective arm around her as they continued to follow Charlie, jogging ahead. He knew that the underlying question was 'why didn't she love me like that?' The truth as Shane saw it was that she did indeed love her that much. The difference was that Joey was good for her and would never corrupt her with an immoral life. But because of that, their love was very different. And because Joey wasn't the demanding type, it had been unfortunately easy to betray her and still hope for forgiveness.

Suddenly, a car screeched out of nowhere and a shot was fired. Then Brax was there, pushing Charlie down on the ground in a bid to protect her that would have been comical if the situation wasn't so serious. The car sped off. Charlie had been shot in the arm.

Joey and Shane stood over the couple. Joey folded her arms and shook her head.

"At least you've done one good thing in your life," she said bitterly to Brax.

She watched him try to stem the blood flow and turned to Charlie.

"And now you've been shot," she said. "And I bet even that isn't going to make you understand that you have the worst taste in men that the world has ever seen."

* * *

"No, Charlie!" Joey begged desperately. "Don't! Don't do that!"

She gave chase as the woman she loved convinced Watson to go for coffee and leave their car, containing evidence against Brax, unattended.

"Charlie!" Joey begged.

But the police officer continued walking, having sent a surreptitious text to her boyfriend. He had apparently been framed for a crime he hadn't committed. _The _only _one he didn't do_, Joey thought bitterly to herself. She turned desperately to Shane.

"What has she become?" she wondered sadly.

"She doesn't have to become it," Shane told her.

He knew that the worst thing that could happen to Charlie was Joey leaving her. He took his duty to keep them together very seriously.

* * *

On the other side of the car, the 2009 version of Charlie was just as disgusted.

"What the hell am I doing?" she asked Jack.

"Hell if I know," her guide grimly replied.

Charlie swallowed. She had the same foul taste in her mouth. The last thing she had ever thought she'd see herself do was disrespect her own uniform. She felt absolutely sick.

"I don't understand what's going on," she said unhappily, stepping back.

Time moved quickly as she watched Brax break into the car, just as her future self had planned. He stole the evidence that incriminated him and took off as easily as a normal person would find buying an ice cream. She felt sick.

"What the hell do I turn into?" she wondered.

* * *

Charlie was disgusted with herself. She'd been relieved to have witnessed herself seemingly ending her relationship with Brax for good. She longed, on her tour with Jack, that she would see her future self gain some courage and dignity and go and find Joey, along with a way of making everything up to her. However, all she seemed to do was get sucked further and further into an awful relationship.

Jack stood back and watched her scream at herself as they watched her make out with Brax in some cabin, away from Summer Bay.

"Fucking slut," 2009 Charlie complained, stepping back in sheer frustration at not being able to rectify her future mistakes.

At least, she couldn't rectify them now. But even if she lost Joey for good, she hoped that now she knew of the bad decisions that lay ahead of her, she could avoid them. But then, she thought she was probably underestimating how much Joey's genuine departure would destroy her. That was why, when this strange dream or whatever it was meant to be, was over, she was going to make decisions that would really count. She was going to make Joey stay.

"How could I even think about taking him back after all he's done?" she asked Jack.

"You love him, I guess," Jack replied stiffly.

"How could I even begin to love someone like _him_? I mean, I thought Angelo was bad…"

Jack glared at her.

"Okay, Angelo was probably worse," Charlie apologised. "But still…"

"If this future comes true, I will be thoroughly ashamed of you," Jack admitted with a hint of teasing.

"Nobody could be more ashamed of me than myself," Charlie said sadly.

The scene changed quickly.

* * *

Joey felt sick, partly because of having to see Charlie make out with Brax, who she had decided was utterly hideous on all counts and partly because of the swift change of scene. Now, she was surveying some sort of car accident.

She swallowed uncertainly as she saw Brax bundle a dazed Charlie into a car and left some other tattooed guy and a pretty but rather distraught blonde stand over an unconscious motorcyclist while presumably, they waited for an ambulance.

"What's going on?" Joey asked Shane.

The scene changed again. Her frustration grew as she figured out that the man and his girlfriend, Heath and Bianca, had taken the blame for Liam Murphy's accident in order to preserve Charlie and Brax's sordid affair.

"How much shit is she going to take from this guy before she walks away?" Joey wondered.

Shane sighed beside her but didn't speak, just tried to prepare himself to support her through what she was going to see next.

* * *

Invisible Joey stood behind oblivious Charlie as she got ready for her final day at work.

"How could you be leaving your job behind for that… criminal?" she wondered.

Her gaze was sad an incredulous. She turned to Shane.

"She's obviously unhappy about it," she said. "I mean, look at her!"

"All she ever wanted to be was a cop," Shane agreed. "That and Ruby were her life force."

Joey nodded and watched Charlie brace herself for saying goodbye to her career. All three of them turned when they heard a noise. Joey followed Charlie into the room. Before she knew what had happened, someone had shot her.

* * *

"This future isn't even possible," Charlie declared. "There is no way on earth I'd leave the police force! Not for anyone! Not even for…"

She trailed off and swallowed, thinking of her beloved Joey. The person she saw before her wasn't a woman she recognised.

"Hang on…" she said, also hearing the noise in the house that sent 2011 Charlie into the other room.

Both version of Charlie were shocked when the intruder pulled out a gun and fired.

* * *

"Charlie!" Joey said desperately.

She raced forward as the gunman left, kneeling beside her love and trying to stem the bleeding. Charlie was already unconscious and Joey struggled to accept that this wasn't reality. She wept like her own Charlie, the one she knew and loved, was really dying.

"Charlie!" she begged. "Please wake up. Please don't die."

* * *

"Do I die?" Charlie asked, tentatively stepping closer to her body, lying in a pool of blood on the living room floor.

"I'm afraid so," Jack said, stepping up beside her.

Charlie swallowed, feeling sad but finding it odd to mourn herself.

"Just like that?" she asked.

"Just like that," he replied. "Like me. Just shot and left to die all alone."

Charlie swallowed. A lump formed in her throat for him and for herself.

"But there were so many things I wanted to do with my life," she said. "There's so much left unfinished."

Jack merely nodded. He understood perfectly.

"I'm so… ashamed," Charlie admitted. "I… I die as nothing more than a criminal's bitch. I want… I want more than that. I should have done more than that."

Jack put his arm around her.

"Then change it," he told her.

They snapped back to reality.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey witness Joey's future…_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Charlie moved to get out of the car but Jack quickly stopped her.

"I need to see Joey," Charlie said desperately. "I need to make things right."

"You still have a bit more to see," Jack said.

Charlie groaned and sat back in her seat.

"What now?" she asked. "The afterlife."

He frowned. She apologised for being insensitive.

"Don't worry," he said. "I've got used to being dead. For the most part."

He thought of his precious Martha in Hugo's arms and was torn between sadness and anger. That was one thing about being dead that he hated. Unless he was to be given a specific mission like tonight, he would just have to sit back and watch her eventually go on the run with a criminal. He had seen his cousin's crimes and it made him sick that his wife would so easily forgive everything.

"So, where are we going?" Charlie asked.

"Into Joey's future."

The scene changed once more.

* * *

"Okay, my future's on a boat, I'm happy," Joey joked as she watched herself working on board a trawler.

She and Shane shared a small laugh, knowing it wasn't really true. She was still shaken at having seen Charlie die and whatever happened, she knew that would be an image that would stay with her forever.

"Maybe not so happy," she remarked, noting the glum expression on her future self's face.

"Ten points if you can guess what's on your mind," Shane said with a grin.

"Charlie, by any chance?" Joey sighed.

* * *

"Do you think she's missing me at all?" Charlie asked.

She and Jack were stood on the other side of Joey, also studying her.

"She misses you like crazy," Jack told her. "She cries herself to sleep at night."

"You don't need to laugh at me," Charlie snapped.

He held up his hands in defence.

"I wasn't joking," he said.

Clicking his fingers, he and Charlie found themselves in Joey's bunk below deck. Clutching a photo that she and Charlie had got as a laugh in a photo booth in Yabbie Creek, Joey was indeed sobbing her heart out, wondering if she had made a big mistake.

* * *

The scene changed to a picturesque, little house, complete with a white, picket fence and perfectly manicured lawn. Charlie guessed it was some years later and her breath caught in her throat as she saw Joey exit the house with a little boy.

She moved closer quickly and gazed at the woman she loved. She was beautiful, even more beautiful than the girl that Charlie already knew. Her hair was shiny and cut to just below her shoulders. Her natural beauty shone out as she held the little boy's hand in hers.

"How far in the future is this?" she wondered.

* * *

"Um… I hate to break it you but kids are the last thing I ever want to have," Joey remarked.

Undetected by herself or by Charlie, Joey and Shane walked up the garden path and out to the car with them.

"He belongs to your girlfriend," Shane explained.

"My girlfriend?"

"Her name's Izzy and if you don't mind my saying, she is seriously hot," he smirked.

She laughed and watched herself tuck her partner's son into his car seat. He looked to be about four years old and hadn't stopped chattering from the moment they'd arrived.

"She must be judging by how adorable this little guy is," Joey commented. "Although nobody could be more beautiful than Charlie."

"Take a look," Shane said.

They both turned as they heard a shout. A striking redhead stood in the doorway, waving like a loon. Joey was indeed struck by just how beautiful she was.

"You forgot his lunch box!" Izzy declared, walking down towards the car.

Joey watched herself accept the lunch box, scolding herself for being so silly. They kissed each other goodbye.

* * *

Charlie felt like she had been stabbed as she watched future Joey melt against this woman, Izzy's lips.

"I love you," Izzy said.

"I love you too," Joey replied happily.

They kissed again.

"Hurry up!" the little boy, Dylan hollered from the car, making them laugh.

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" Joey said, stealing one more kiss and climbing into the front seat.

Izzy waved as Joey set the lunch box on the seat, reminded herself not to leave it there and drove off in order to take Dylan to playgroup.

"Is Joey seeing this?" she asked, the words barely getting past the lump in her throat.

"Yes," Jack replied.

"Then why the fuck did we go through any of this?" Charlie demanded.

Her anger took his by surprise and he jolted when she thumped him in the chest and burst into tears.

"Charlie…" he said

"Why?" Charlie shouted. "Why let her into my darkest secret? Why let me know what's going to happen to me and give me stupid hope that maybe she'll take me back? Why bother coming back at all if she's just going to leave?"

"You don't know that she's going to leave," Jack pointed out.

"Of course she is!" Charlie yelled. "She's going to end up with the perfect life! A beautiful woman that loves her and a little boy that she never knew she wanted until she just saw him! Of course she's going to choose this over me! Of course she is!"

Jack reached out to hold her.

"She's not going to choose me," Charlie said, more broken than angry now. "She's going to let me go. She's going to let me die."

* * *

_Next time… Jack drops a hint about Hugo as he and Shane's mission completes and Charlie and Joey agree to talk things through…_


	15. Chapter 15

_I thought I had finished this one at chapter nineteen but it turns out I hadn't so I have some more writing to do! I just had some more inspiration while reading through this chapter as to where I'd like to take the story. So please bear with me. I hope you enjoy it. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Fifteen**

Charlie was bereft to find herself back in her car. She knew her night of revelation was over and she was now on her own to try and win Joey back. But she didn't think she could do it, not after what she had done, not after what Joey would now know about her past and not after the dream life Joey would have without her.

"I really hope tonight helps bring you back together, Charlie," Jack said sincerely.

She laughed bitterly and shook her head.

"I don't stand a chance in hell," she said. "She's going to shoot out of here and try to find that Izzy woman."

She pulled a face, feeling embittered.

"You don't know that," Jack said.

Charlie sighed and leant her head back against the head restraint behind her.

"I do," she said sadly, tears forming in her eyes. "Look at everything she's been through, Jack. Look at the bullying and the loneliness and then look at how much she loved me. Why would she ever try and make it work with someone like me when there's a woman out there who only wants to love her and make her happy."

"Don't underestimate how much she loves you," Jack said. "Those kinds of feelings… they're not so easy to walk away from."

Charlie wiped her eyes.

"I hope you're right," she said. "Because I don't want to go down the path I saw. I didn't even recognise the person we were watching. I don't want to fuck the guy that killed you. And I don't want to sacrifice all my morals, my life's work, for some criminal gang member. Tonight has shown me stronger than ever exactly what I want, exactly what I need. But I'm scared that it's done the same thing for Joey. I'm scared that she's not going to choose me."

"Well, I suggest you don't waste any time in finding out one way or the other," Jack said. "But I beg you to fight for her, Charlie. Do whatever it takes."

Charlie nodded, determined to do just that.

"Thank you for tonight, Jack," she said sincerely. "This whole thing has been pretty crazy but I'm so glad it was you that was my guide."

He smiled, genuinely touched.

"I always thought a lot of you," he admitted. "And I want you to be able to keep her."

"Thank you," she said.

They touched hands briefly.

"Can I make a request?" he asked.

"Sure," Charlie replied.

"Please look out for Martha," he said sadly. "Her life… she needs to not be with Hugo. She needs to get out before she's really in love with him and before everyone discovers who he really is."

"Who is he?" Charlie asked.

"I can't go into detail but… but he's a bad man, Charlie," Jack said earnestly. "He's not the cousin I grew up with. He's not in Summer Bay to be with his family, not completely. It's a port for him, a way for him to continue doing what he's doing."

"What's he doing?" Charlie wondered.

"Again, I can't say but… well, when Angelo comes back, listen to him. Don't sleep with him but… listen."

With that, Jack disappeared. Charlie felt bereft all over again.

* * *

Across town, Joey's mind was spinning as she sat on the beach with Shane.

"That's really my future if I leave Charlie now?" she asked incredulously.

Shane nodded.

"But if I go for that then Charlie winds up with criminals and gets shot and left to die all alone?"

"That's about the size of it," Shane said grimly. "Although, I don't know, maybe her seeing it all might change things. I don't exactly know the details of this kind of thing."

Joey nodded and sighed, gazing out at the dark sea.

"I feel more confused than ever," she admitted.

She didn't understand how her insignificant self could have such an effect on Charlie's life. She had never thought she mattered.

"What's your heart telling you?" Shane asked.

"That I need to find a way to stay with her," Joey replied.

"Because you love her or because you want to save her?"

"Both," she said honestly. "But… how can I get over what she did?"

"I don't know," Shane admitted. "I don't know what I would have done if Angel had ever betrayed me. But I do know that I loved her with my every breath until the very last one. She was my world. And if Charlie is _your _world, then… well, I think you know what you need to do."

Joey nodded and smiled.

"Thank you," she said.

He put his arm around her.

"It's my pleasure," he said.

Then he vanished.

* * *

Charlie called in sick to work and went home. It appeared that after the longest night of her life, no time had actually passed. But there was no way she could concentrate on fires and crime tonight. Tonight, she had to put her heart, her life, ahead of her job. Tonight, she had to try and find a way to win back the woman she loved.

Arriving at the house, she sank down onto the sofa and pulled out her phone. She called Joey without hesitation and was relieved when she picked up the phone.

"Hey," Joey greeted quietly.

"Hey," Charlie replied.

Silence filled the air for a moment before Charlie spoke again.

"So, I had a really weird night," she said.

"Funnily enough, so did I," Joey told her.

"So um… can we talk?" Charlie asked. "I know… I know what I did was unforgiveable and it'll take more than a ghost to make it right but… please, can I try?"

"Aren't you working?" Joey asked.

"I called in sick," Charlie said a little guiltily.

"Where are you?"

"At home."

She just hoped that it would still be Joey's home too now.

"I'll be right there," Joey promised.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey begin to talk things through…_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Joey took a very deep breath before she knocked on the kitchen door to the place she had been recently calling home. When she'd found out about Hugo earlier, her plan had been to move her stuff out overnight while Charlie was on shift. But the night hadn't gone to plan for either of them.

"Hey," Charlie said quietly when she opened the door.

Anxiety was evident on her face as she gripped the door too tightly.

"You um… you didn't have to knock," she ventured. "It's still your home."

Joey winced and shrugged. She had no idea where she belonged anymore. Charlie stepped out of the way and let her in.

"Would you like a drink or something?"

"Do we… you still have those beers in the fridge?" Joey asked.

Charlie frowned at the way she corrected herself, seeming to confirm that they were no longer a unit.

"Yeah, we do," Charlie said, correcting her right back. "I feel like I could do with a drink tonight."

Joey nodded. Charlie reached into the fridge and took out a couple of bottles. She opened them and handed one over. The both glugged rather greedily before Charlie led the way through to the lounge. The police officer sat at one end, hoping that Joey might take the other. She tried not to look disappointed when she took the opposite chair.

"So um… you had a weird night, hey?" Joey finally said. "Did you… have a visitor?"

Charlie nodded and swigged her beer.

"My old colleague, Jack," she said, not adding that he was dead. "You?"

"The husband of a girl that used to babysit me," Joey told her. "And the weird thing was that he died of septicaemia in the nineties."

She frowned. It sounded every bit as absurd out loud as it did in her head, perhaps even more so.

"Yeah, Jack was shot in 2008," Charlie said.

They both laughed self-consciously.

"I feel like I might have lost my mind," Joey admitted.

"Well, if you have then I'm right there with you," Charlie said.

They smiled weakly at each other.

"So uh… you saw my past?" Charlie dared.

Joey looked up at her, meeting her eyes, exchanging silent sadness.

"I did," she confirmed.

"I'm… I'm sorry I never told you… anything," Charlie said, hanging her head in shame.

"That's not really the issue," Joey told her.

Charlie looked back up again, rather panicked.

"Joey, please don't tell Ruby that I…" she begged, getting tangled up in her own words.

"Charlie, that's not what I mean," Joey interrupted gently.

Charlie paused and then sank back onto the couch.

"What did you mean?" she asked quietly.

"It broke my heart to see what you'd been through," Joey ventured, twisting her hands together in her lap. "I mean, what that boy did and…"

She shook her head, visibly upset. Charlie saw her wipe some tears away and moved to kneel in front of her, holding both her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Joey looked at her, knowing that they weren't talking about the past anymore.

"Is that… what happened to you… is that why…?"

Charlie sighed and moved back to the couch. She was pleased when Joey came to sit close beside her and didn't resist when Charlie put her arm around her.

"It messed me up," she admitted. "It messed me up more than I could ever explain."

Joey nodded.

"It's hard enough having something like that happen to you," she said. "Throw in a pregnancy and the fact that you were just a kid…"

She closed her eyes, having not been able to shake those images all night.

"It was pretty shitty," Charlie admitted sadly.

Joey caught hold of her free hand.

"I can imagine how terrified you were," she said.

Charlie nodded, painfully aware of what Joey had recently been through.

"I just keep thinking about it all… what you went through, Ruby being your daughter and not your sister… and the way you've been with me, the way you've struggled to trust me…"

"I always trusted you," Charlie interjected softly. "Just not myself."

"But you never wanted to let me get close to you," Joey pointed out.

"Because I felt so strongly for you and it freaked me out," Charlie explained.

"Because I'm a girl?"  
"That and because… well, like I said, I don't trust myself."

She sighed heavily, not sure of how to explain.

"I… back then, I got hurt so badly that I never even thought I could recover," she ventured. "And I know I never have. I didn't get the chance to raise Ruby myself and I never got justice for what happened to me. I've had to treat Ruby as my sister when all I've ever wanted…"

She trailed off. Joey squeezed her hand.

"He was the first boyfriend I ever had," Charlie continued. "Like, I'd never so much as kissed a boy on the lips until I met him. I grew boobs and hormones overnight and then all the boys that had never even noticed me before were suddenly interested. And Grant was the most handsome, smart, popular, sporty… He was like Prince Charming."

She winced at the memory.

"And then… well, the one person I let get close to me… hurt me… and ruined my life."

Joey shifted a little closer, still holding onto her.

"But you never thought I'd hurt you?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, no, of course not," Charlie assured her, hugging her a little closer. "But that night… he… he poisoned me, Joey. From that moment, everything I have ever tried to do, I fucked up. Everything. And a massive part of me being scared to be with you was because I love you so much. I never wanted to infect you with… the poison. And then… then when I did let you close, it went wrong and I was in so much trouble at work and not allowed to see you and it felt like my whole world was unravelling and then I… fell back on old habits."

She frowned when Joey drew away from her, even though it was only slightly.

"I'm sorry for everything you went through," the younger woman said sincerely. "But what you did, the way you treated me and… lied… it still hurts."

"I know," Charlie almost whispered.

"And I don't know if that will ever stop enough to…"

"I know," Charlie repeated, her voice catching with heartbreak.

"But I guess we have a load of things to discuss, not just that," Joey added.

Charlie nodded and plastered a weak smile on her face.

"Where should we start?" she asked.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey get right to the heart of matters…_


	17. Chapter 17

_Really hope you like this one. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Seventeen**

"It's been hard to see where we've both come from," Charlie ventured. "It broke my heart to see the way you grew up with those bullies and what your Dad did to you and everything."

"It was pretty humiliating to know you were seeing all of that," Joey admitted.

The two women were still sat side by side on the sofa and it looked to be a long night. But they both had hope that at the end of it, something might actually have been achieved.

"Please don't feel like that," Charlie said gently, touching her hand.

They both felt a thrill shoot through them and Charlie didn't take her hand away.

"How did you feel, knowing what I was seeing?" Joey wondered.

"Humiliated," Charlie admitted quietly.

Their eyes met, feeling the same thing about each other.

"I cried my eyes out over what happened to you," Joey said. "And my head is still spinning over who Ruby really is."

Charlie nodded, relieved that she hadn't broken contact yet. She wanted to hold onto her in every way for as long as possible.

"Please don't tell her," she begged. "She's not ready to know the truth. _I'm _not ready. I don't know if we ever will be. I'd lose her if…"

Joey squeezed her hand. It cut off her words.

"It's not my business to spill secrets," she assured her. "That's between you two."

Charlie nodded gratefully.

"And I know they say honesty is the best policy but I genuinely don't know with this one anyway," Joey added. "I mean, it's a huge thing. And I… well, the only reason I even know about it is because of the weirdness that happened tonight."

Charlie smiled sadly and apologised.

"I like to think that I would have told you someday," she said. "If I hadn't stuffed things up and we'd lasted then…"

She sighed heavily and then turned to look into Joey's eyes.

"Are we going to last, Joey?" she asked.

"I don't know," Joey replied. "I... this whole thing has been confusing from start to… now."

Charlie silently noted that she hadn't said 'finish'.

"Yeah," she agreed, the word coming out in a breath. "We've been through a lot. And I know that's been my fault. Joey, if there's anything I could possibly do to make things up to you… to make things right…"

Joey smiled sadly.

"I do want to try and make things work," she admitted. "I just… don't know how successful it would be. I know how awful you feel about what happened. I _saw _how awful you felt. And I understand a bit more now why it's so hard for you to get close to people…"

She sighed heavily.

"My plan for tomorrow, before Shane appeared as the ghost of Summer Bay past, present and future, was to leave," she admitted.

Charlie looked stricken.

"I was going to hit the docks first thing in the morning but I don't think I can now."

"Because…?"

"Because I saw the future, Charlie," Joey said. "I saw your future and I can't…"

She broke off tearfully.

"You don't deserve the future they gave you," she said.

Charlie swallowed uncomfortably. It certainly wasn't a future she wanted – full of sleeping with criminals and breaking her own moral codes. And what did it all result in? Death. She was going to die in a few years' time if she went down that awful path.

"What about your future?" she asked uncertainly.

Joey smiled sadly and stroked her thumb gently over Charlie's hand, still clasped in hers.

"It was nice," Joey said. "I looked really happy and settled, didn't I?"

Charlie nodded. She felt like her heart was breaking.

"Do you think you'll ever feel settled with me, Charlie?" Joey asked.

"Yes," the police officer replied quickly. "Yes. We have been settled, haven't we? Until…"

"Until I found out that you slept with Hugo behind my back," Joey said sharply. "And I know what happened now, Charlie. You kissed him first. You made the first move. You wanted to be with him that night."

"But not because I didn't want to be with you," Charlie said quickly. "I was so messed up, Joey. I was so lost."

"I just don't understand why you had to do _that_," Joey said unhappily. "If you were attracted to Hugo…"

"I'm not," Charlie insisted.

"But you slept with him!" Joey cried, dropping Charlie's hand and throwing her own up in the air.

"He was just there," Charlie tried to explain. "It could have been anyone."

"But why would you betray me like that?" Joey asked. "I was sitting there alone in that caravan and you…"

She trailed off and wiped her eyes. Charlie scooted closer and held her, relieved when she wasn't pushed away.

"I'm sorry," Charlie whispered. "I'm so sorry, Joey. If there was anything I could do to take it back…"

Joey closed her eyes. She couldn't help but feel safe in Charlie's arms, despite the hideous circumstances. She loved Charlie. And there was nothing she could really do about that.

"Are you still going to leave?" Charlie asked after several moments of silence.

"No," Joey said, surprised to have a decision already formed.

"And do you think you could give me another chance?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Joey replied.

"Joey, I'd understand if you wanted to go off and find that woman and…"

"And leave you to die right on this floor?" Joey said, her voice catching.

Charlie hugged her a little closer.

"Don't stay here to save me," she said softly. "I really don't want to die and I really don't want to make the awful decisions Jack showed me but… I don't want you to stay here out of obligation. Not if you want to go and find that woman and have that child and live that happy life."

"It did seem pretty great," Joey ventured.

Charlie dropped her hands, looking crestfallen.

"But I don't think I could have been as happy in that future as I looked," Joey continued.

Charlie gazed at her, trying not to hope too hard.

"I love you, Charlie," Joey said sincerely. "The feelings I have for you are stronger than I even knew possible. I want to be with you. I want to try and make it work, although that's going to take a lot and there are going to have to be a hell of a lot of changes in our relationship."

Charlie nodded eagerly.

"But I think we both owe it to ourselves to try," Joey concluded.

She smiled at the way Charlie smiled.

"Do you want to try?" she asked.

Charlie's kiss told her all she needed to know.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey spend their first night back together…_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Charlie's kiss had led the way to the bedroom. Lying back on the mattress, Joey kept her arms around Charlie's neck, holding her close. But every time she closed her eyes, she could picture her girlfriend kissing Hugo on the beach.

Steeling herself, she tried to focus on the present moment. She was here with Charlie, the woman she loved more than anyone else in the world. She had given her another chance. She couldn't take it back now.

She closed her eyes again, feeling Charlie's lips warm against hers. She felt her trace her fingertips along her body, making her tingle. But the image of Charlie and Hugo flashed into her brain and stayed there. Sensing there was a problem, Charlie pulled away.

Joey opened her eyes, losing herself in Charlie's baby blues for a moment. She sighed heavily. She wanted things to work out between them. She wanted them to start over. But right now, it still felt impossible.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked tenderly, stroking her face and fearing rejection.

"This… this just isn't going to be so simple," Joey realised sadly.

Charlie sighed and sat up, crossing her legs on the bed. Joey mirrored her position and took her hands.

"I just keep seeing you and Hugo together on the beach," Joey ventured.

Charlie nodded and hung her head, closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Joey added.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Charlie asked fearfully.

"No," Joey assured her.

Charlie looked up quickly, hope in her eyes as she saw Joey's sad smile.

"I want things to work out between us," Joey said. "I just… I guess it's not going to be as simple as just making up and making out, you know? I guess there's more to discuss."

Charlie nodded.

"Do you want to talk about that night?" she asked, not eager to discuss it.

"Yes, please," Joey said.

Charlie nodded again, waiting for Joey to say something.

"Did you enjoy being with him?" came the first question.

"No," Charlie said immediately. "It was awful. And well… you saw how much I hated myself for it afterwards."

Joey nodded and took both of Charlie's hands. She interrupted herself with a yawn and then laughed, embarrassed.

"It's been a long night," she remarked.

"Yeah," Charlie sighed. "Would you like to go to sleep?"

Joey smiled gently.

"I think that might be a good idea," she said. "Maybe we can sleep on all of this and start afresh tomorrow?"

Charlie nodded her agreement.

"Will you sleep here?" she asked.

"I have nowhere else to go," Joey pointed out. "Not that that would have stopped me when I planned to move out earlier, before Shane came and took me through two people's lifetimes!"

She laughed and shook her head. The whole thing seemed still so unreal.

"And um… would you like me to share Ruby's room or…?"

"Stay with me," Joey requested. "I mean it when I say I love you, Charlie, and that I want us to work through all of this. I think seeing how life would be for either of us without each other was what we needed to make me stay. Which I guess was kind of the point!"

She laughed self-consciously again. Charlie leant carefully forward and kissed her cheek.

"I'm so sorry that there's something that needs fixing," she said sincerely. "But I'm so happy that you're willing to try. I love you so much, Joey, and I knew even before tonight that I couldn't live without you. I'll do anything to get you to stay with me and not just because of the awful person I could turn into otherwise, sleeping with criminals and sacrificing everything I believe in. But… well, I guess that's where this started."

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

"_You're_ everything I believe in, Joey, and I destroyed what we had. I hurt you so badly on top of everything else I did even before we got back together," Charlie said. "But I love you and I need you so much. You make me a better person and I'll do whatever it takes to prove how I feel about you."

Joey smiled, taking her words to heart and knowing she was being honest. She leant across and kissed her gently but lovingly on the mouth. She closed her eyes and pictured the first night that she and Charlie had spent together. She pictured how happy they had been since they'd become a couple and slowly, Charlie's lies and betrayal started not to matter so much.

"Shall we sleep?" she suggested, her lips still against Charlie's.

"That sounds like a good plan," the police officer agreed.

* * *

Five minutes later, both women were in their pyjamas, tucked up in bed. Joey lay on what had become her side of the bed, facing outwards. Charlie snuggled up behind her, holding her close. She kissed her shoulder and told her she loved her. They stayed that way all night.

* * *

_Next time… Ruby is happy that Charlie and Joey are making a go of things and Charlie has no shame in letting people know how she feels about her girlfriend…_


	19. Chapter 19

_This is the chapter where I was going to end the story but I'm going to carry on a bit longer so that we can see Charlie and Joey's futures be different to the ones they saw with their ghost guides. But I hope you enjoy this one anyway. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Nineteen**

Joey woke in the morning with a headache. Despite the pain, she felt warm and safe in Charlie's arms. Yesterday felt like some horrible nightmare but the sudden ache in her chest reminded her that everything was true. Charlie had cheated on her with Hugo and then lied about it. Joey still felt like a fool for having put so much trust in the woman she loved. But then the night had taken a crazy turn and she and Charlie had both been given a supernatural insight into the past, present and future. It had been a painful journey but Joey felt like she and Charlie both understood each other a lot better. And that was why she was still here.

Rolling over carefully, Joey gazed into Charlie's sleeping face. She thought she was the most beautiful person on the planet and she loved her as deeply as she ever had. It broke her heart to think of what she had been through in her past and was still rather shocked at the knowledge that Ruby was her daughter and not her sister. And that Ruby didn't have a clue.

She reached out and stroked Charlie's hair and then apologised for waking her when she began to stir.

"Mmm… it's fine," Charlie said sleepily, her crystal blue eyes fluttering open.

She smiled lovingly at her girlfriend, grateful that of all the things that may or may not have been true yesterday, being curled up in bed with the woman she loved was definitely real. She had been afraid that it might have only been a dream.

"How did you sleep?" Joey asked, as she and Charlie lay on their sides, facing each other, close enough for their noses to touch if they wanted them to.

"Very well, surprisingly," Charlie murmured, still half in a dream state. "You?"

Joey nodded, also still sleepy. She reached out and touched Charlie's cheek.

"I'm glad we started to be able to work things out," she said sincerely.

Charlie held onto her hand, tilting her head to kiss it.

"Me too," she said. "I have no idea how you found it in your heart to forgive me but I'm so glad you did. I love you so much."

They kissed tenderly. Joey closed her eyes, wrapping her arms tightly around her girlfriend. She never wanted to let her go.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Ruby was stunned to see Charlie and Joey exit their bedroom. Her cereal spoon stopped midway to her mouth as she stared at them in cautious hope.

"Are you back together?" she asked rather desperately.

"Yes," Charlie confirmed.

Ruby's spoon clattered back into her bowl as she rushed up to them, hauling them into a hug. They were both touched by how happy she was.

"I was so scared you guys were going to break up," she admitted, looking rather emotional. "I mean, I know it took me a bit of time to get my head around everything but I know how much you love each other. You're really staying together?"

"Really," Joey said, when Ruby released them.

They all moved to sit on the sofas.

"You've forgiven and forgotten?" Ruby asked. "Just like that?"

She had to admire how committed Joey obviously was to Charlie.

"It was a long night," Joey said softly. "We both got a bit of an insight into each other's worlds and what happened and I… I know that Hugo was a mistake that Charlie instantly regretted. I wish she hadn't done it or I wish she'd not lied to me. But I also know that she lied because she was afraid of losing me. And I… don't want to be lost."

The couple smiled at each other and held hands.

"I've got a second chance," Charlie said. "And there's no way I'm going blow it."

Ruby hugged them again.

"I'm so happy for you," she said sincerely. "Really, I am."

"Thank you," they said in unison.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Annie arrived, hovering in the doorway. She looked distinctly uncomfortable at the sight of Charlie and Joey in each other's arms.

"We'd better head to school," Ruby said. "But um… maybe we could have dinner tonight? If you don't want to be _alone_…"

She teased them with the last word, making them blush and Annie cringe.

"Dinner sounds great, Rubes," Joey said.

She looked to Charlie for confirmation. The police officer eagerly nodded. This time, she was going to do everything right.

* * *

That evening, with Charlie and Joey having spent the best part of a happy day together, the couple were at the Diner with Ruby. It was very different to the last meal they'd had there together before, where Charlie had been too awkward to hold Joey's hand. Now, anyone would be able to tell they were in love just by the way they looked at each other.

"Um… Charlie, you need to come outside, love," Alf said, appearing at their table.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked worriedly.

The last time someone had taken Charlie outside like that, it had been because Brett had scrawled graffiti over Charlie's car. And that had had far too many repercussions.

"There's some sort of… um… look, come out and see," Alf said awkwardly.

Looking a little panicked, the threesome headed outside. Joey stopped abruptly when she saw the words 'I love you, Joey Collins' projected in lights onto the wall of the Surf Club for all to see. She stared at the words and then at Charlie who broke out into a grin.

"Charlie!" she said.

Then she frowned.

"When did you get time to do this?" she wondered.

"There wasn't really a lunch line like I told you there was," Charlie said. "Plus, Alf and Jai helped me."

She turned to the Summer Bay stalwart and thanked him. He looked pleased with how things had turned out.  
"Sorry for lying," Charlie added, putting her arm around her waist. "I just… wanted you and the rest of the Bay to know exactly how I feel about you."

Joey rewarded her with a kiss. From now, they knew they would do things right. There was no more secrets, no more lies, nothing that could hurt them. This time, it was going to be forever.

* * *

_Next time… Angelo returns to Summer Bay…_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Charlie and Joey were the only people in Summer Bay not shocked by the sudden return of Angelo Rosetta. He was working for Area Command on a case that had begun with a severed hand that poor, little VJ had found on the beach while playing soccer with Miles recently.

A short while after that, he and his team had responded to a distress call, whereby Irene Roberts had been rescued from a posh yacht. She had been away with her partner, the rich Lou Debono, who Joey had once worked for on a trawler. But now Lou was missing, Irene was terrified and had been found drunk and in a terrible state of fear. She had been so scared upon approach that she had shot a police officer with Lou's gun and he was now in critical condition while she was in deep trouble with the law.

"So, do you think I should confront him?" Charlie asked.

She and Joey were out for dinner in town. Long gone were the days when Charlie was anxious about them being seen out together. Everything just felt normal, like everything was the way it was supposed to be. And she hoped she would never stop counting her blessings when it came to getting a second chance with the woman she loved.

Also long gone were the days where she felt the need to shut her partner out of any aspect of her life. If she was troubled or concerned or had anything on her mind, no matter what it was, she was happy and even eager to discuss it with Joey. And tonight's subject was Angelo.

"Do you think he'll open up?" Joey asked.

She'd bristled just a tiny bit when Charlie's ex, the man she had seen in the future romancing and pretty much abusing the woman she loved, waltzed back into town. But she felt secure that there whatever he might feel, there were no residual feelings on Charlie's part. In fact, her girlfriend had talked at great length of her sheer disgust over what her future might have once held.

"I don't know," Charlie admitted. "I mean, I guess this is meant to be a secret mission or whatever. Nobody is meant to know. But I do know that Hugo is involved somehow and I promised Jack that I'd try and protect Martha."

Joey nodded thoughtfully. They had been trying to figure out the best way to try and warn her for a while now, both so as to get the best chance of succeeding and the best chance of not looking like crazy people. And obviously it was no secret that Joey at least had an axe to grind with Hugo after his night with Charlie. It had nearly cost them so much.

"Well, maybe he'll be grateful for your help," Joey suggested hopefully. "If this is the big case that Jack implied it was, it'll be a big deal to handle it on his own. I mean, what could be better than to have the best cop in town helping him on his case?"

She grinned at the way Charlie blushed at the compliment. Charlie gazed lovingly at her, leaning across the table and kissing her softly on her lips.

"Thank you for always having so much faith in me," she said. "Especially…"

Joey put her finger to her lips.

"We don't need to keep having the conversation about a future that won't happen and a past that doesn't matter," she assured her gently. "I have faith in you because you earned it, because you deserve it and because I love you more than anything in this world."

Charlie kissed Joey's index finger, still placed against her lips.

"And I love you the same amount," she told her.

* * *

On her lunch break, Charlie entered the Diner, only to bump into Angelo who was hurrying out with his head down. She peered into the venue to see Tony and Martha glaring at her colleague's back. She followed him outside into the sunshine where he was leaning against a fence post leading to the beach.

"Does that happen often?" she asked, concerned.

He sighed heavily, looking out at the horizon.

"It's just easier to leave when they're there," he said.

"Easier for who?" she asked.

"Them," he said. "It's not supposed to be easy for me."

She was struck by how genuinely guilty he seemed to feel. She was glad. He _should _feel terrible for the rest of his life for what he had done. But she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him too. She thought about the future she had narrowly avoided and wondered if this pity, along with the heartbreak she would have been feeling had she really lost Joey, was what would have propelled her into his bed. She shook the thought away, just relieved that it would never happen, that she had escaped ruining her own life. The way Angelo had ruined his.

"True," she agreed. "It must be hard though."

He nodded mutely.

"Why did you come back here?"

"My case brought me here," he said stiffly. "And as soon as it's done, I'll go again."

"What's the case?" she asked.

"The hand in the sand," he replied. "Or did you miss that?"

"What's the real case, Angelo?" she asked, deciding to get right to the point. "And what has it got to do with Hugo Austin?"

He jolted and then froze. Slowly he turned to look at her, studying her face and looking suspicious.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know Hugo's involved with something bad," Charlie said. "And I need to know what it is."

Angelo swallowed, his throat tight, as he tried to work out if he could trust her.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Only that," she said. "Only that you're here for Hugo and I have to trust you and protect Martha, whatever it takes. So you can beat around the bush or you can get right to the point and let me help you."

He looked decidedly unsure, his jaw clenched and his eyes shifty.

"Plus, I'm guessing the whole point of you taking this mission, whatever it is, is you trying to redeem yourself," Charlie added. "So you're best off giving yourself the best chance."

She saw the hint of a smirk on his face.

"And you're my best chance, are you?" he teased.

She laughed.

"Right now?" she said. "Yes, I am."

* * *

It was the end of a long day and Charlie was utterly exhausted. Under the glares of other officers, including Watson, she had spent most of the afternoon holed up in her office with Angelo, who had told her everything he knew of a human trafficking ring operating out of the Bay. And it looked like Hugo Austin, the vile creature she had slept with and nearly ruined her relationship over, was at the heart of it. Just when she had thought it wasn't possible to be more disgusted with herself, she proved herself wrong.

Her stress had been fairly quickly chased away though, when she had arrived home to Joey. Knowing that her girlfriend had been planning on confronting Angelo, she'd wangled an earlier finish from work in order to prepare a special meal for her. And with Leah and Ruby out and VJ spending the weekend with his grandparents, the couple had the house to themselves.

"Okay, maybe life isn't that bad," the police officer murmured from where Joey had parked her in a kitchen chair while she finished cooking and handed her a glass of wine.

Charlie sipped eagerly and felt herself begin to relax.

"So, purge yourself of any information you can," Joey instructed as she busily stirred pots.

"It's a bit… sensitive," Charlie said awkwardly.

"Oh, okay," Joey said.

"I…"

"It's fine," Joey said brightly. "I understand a lot of your work is confidential. I mean, I wouldn't have liked it if you'd come home and talked about my case with someone."

"I didn't mean that," Charlie said, still sounding awkward.

Joey turned and eyed her quizzically.

"What did you mean?"

"I mean I have to say Hugo's name a lot," Charlie said. "And I don't…"

"Say whatever you need you," Joey instructed. "The whole point of tonight is to make things easier for you Charlie."

"But…"

"Do you have feelings for Hugo?" Joey asked bluntly.

"No!"

"Is he a threat to me?"

"No!"

"Then there's no problem," Joey insisted.

She turned back to her pots.

"Continue," she said.

Charlie grinned and ploughed on with the story.

* * *

That night, after a delicious meal, Joey had treated Charlie to a candlelit bath, complete with essential oils and rose petals. Snuggled up together in the warm water, drinking the remainder of their wine, Charlie felt much more relaxed than she had ever expected to. But then, she supposed that that's what life with Joey meant. No matter the stress of the day, with her girlfriend to come home to, everything felt right.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie tries to warn Martha away from Hugo while Aden enlists Joey's help in proposing to Belle…_


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One**

Charlie took a deep breath and knocked on Martha's door. She shuddered a little as she waited for her friend to answer, having not been to the house since the night Joey had found out about her mistake with Hugo. She shuddered again. As if it wasn't bad enough that she had cheated on her beloved girlfriend, she had done it with a man she now believed to be evil.

Over the last week, since she had confronted Angelo about why he was really back in the Bay, she had been working with him on his secret mission. But even with the story laid out, she was struggling with the revulsion of the man she had briefly been intimate with. She could still hardly believe what he was capable of.

"Hi, Charlie," Martha greeted, opening the door.

On consultation with Joey, Charlie had phoned Martha and arranged to meet up for lunch, like they had back in the days before they had both got a bit too busy. Charlie had actually been having a girls' day out with Martha when she'd first spotted Joey and realised she was in trouble. And then it had just gone from there.

Things had felt a little awkward since Charlie's night with Hugo too and she had suspected, after her ghostly visitation from Jack, that it was because Martha had been jealous. Every time she saw her now, she wondered why she hadn't realised sooner that Martha had developed feelings for her late husband's cousin. And that was exactly why today was so important. She had to keep her away from Hugo, no matter the cost.

* * *

"Wow, it's been far too long since you and I hung out," Aden admitted, as he drove himself and Joey into Yabbie Creek.

"Yeah, everything's been kind of crazy," Joey agreed from the passenger seat.

"I hope part of that is crazy, hot lesbian sex and that I get a description," her friend teased. "Because the idea of you and Charlie is seriously hot!"

Joey laughed and swatted him playfully on the arm.

"I'm still extremely impressed that you turned her," Aden said. "I mean, I thought she was so straight."

"She was," Joey said, unable to prevent herself from thinking about her girlfriend's betrayal.

She had forgiven Charlie completely and she was more than ready to keep moving forward and be happy together but it didn't mean that reminders didn't still sting.

"Sorry," Aden apologised.

News of Charlie and Hugo had swiftly got around the Bay, after Charlie and Joey's brief breakup, which had fortunately only lasted a night. Aden was pleased that they seemed solid again now, although people were still rather surprised that they were an item when Charlie had genuinely only had boyfriends prior to falling in love with a woman.

"It's fine," Joey said. "What she did still hurts when I think about it but really, I don't think about it anymore. We're stronger than we've ever been."

Aden smiled.

"I'm happy for you, Joey," he said sincerely. "You deserve to be happy. And, if I haven't mentioned it already, Charlie is smokin' hot!"

Joey giggled and assured him that he had mentioned it several times in just this car journey alone. Aden laughed and said there was nothing wrong with punctuating a point.

"So, what kind of ring are we looking for?" Joey asked, changing the subject from her relationship to his.

He had revealed to her the previous day that he intended to propose to Belle and had enlisted her help with choosing a ring and hopefully coming up with a special way to ask the all important question.

"Well, my funds a bit limited but something pretty," he said. "Beautiful but understated, subtle, you know? Something that will take someone's – preferably Belle's – breath away without actually trying. Just like the woman herself. Do you reckon it's feasible?"

"I reckon anything is possible," Joey replied rather wistfully.

She thought back to the strangest night of her life and although it still spun her out a little to have spent the evening with a ghost taking her through the past, present and future, she was so glad it had happened. She was so glad that it had helped her and Charlie find a way to make things work.

* * *

Charlie and Martha sat at a table in the Surf Club, enjoying a juice. Things were easier than Charlie had expected them to be and she was enjoying her friend's company. The only concern she had was that, like the day they'd met Joey, all Martha seemed able to talk about was Hugo. Before, the assumption had been that Martha had been pushing Charlie and Hugo together. Now, things seemed entirely different.

"So, you and Joey are really making a go of things?" Martha asked, curious about her friend's relationship.

Charlie couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, everything feels pretty good for us now," she admitted. "I'm really happy. It's the best relationship I've ever had, that's for sure."

"And the Hugo thing isn't a problem?" Martha asked.

"It was," Charlie said. "We very nearly broke up for good the night she found out. It was one of the worst moments of my life. But we've worked through it and we're stronger than we were before."

"I have to admit I was pretty shocked when I heard about you two," Martha said. "I never realised you were into girls as well."

"Nor did I!" Charlie laughed. "And it seriously freaked me out – hence the Hugo incident. But um… well, I guess when you fall in love with someone, nothing else really matters."

Martha smiled wistfully.

"And that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about," Charlie dared.

"Are you in love with me?" Martha cracked.

Charlie snorted with laughter and assured her that she was safe.

"Why?" Martha asked in mock offence. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," Charlie promised. "You're wonderful. But I've definitely found the one and only person I want to spend my life with. And I already nearly lost her once… well, lots of times actually, but I'm definitely not doing that again."

"I'm happy for you, Charlie," Martha said sincerely. "So, um… what did you need to say?"

* * *

"Perfect," Joey told Aden.

"Are you sure?" the future groom asked worriedly.

It was their second jewellery shop and their twentieth ring but neither had run out of patience. But Joey was certain they had now found 'the one'.

"It's everything you described," Joey said. "Belle will love it."

Aden nodded and grinned, agreeing with her.

"I'll take it," he told the sale clerk.

* * *

"Martha, do you have feelings for Hugo?" Charlie asked, her voice gentle but her words getting right to the point.

If she was too careful, they would be there all day and she needed to protect Martha if she could. Jack's words to her were still ringing in her head and she knew she had to act on them.

"No!" Martha immediately denied.

Her face flushed pink. Charlie didn't have to be a cop to know she was lying.

"Martha…"

"I don't have feelings for Hugo!" Martha hissed. "How could you even ask me that? Jack's barely been gone a… Not even a year, Charlie! How could you?"

"Martha, I'm not accusing," Charlie said, keeping her voice low and gentle. "I'm just asking."

Martha swallowed and looked around. She sipped her drink.

"Fine," she said. "Yes. Yes, I have feelings for him. And I have no idea what I'm supposed to do about it."

"Can I tell you?" Charlie asked.

* * *

Aden and Joey stopped for lunch. Joey couldn't help but giggle every time her friend stopped to check he hadn't somehow lost the ring on their travels.

"So, now all I have to do is figure out how to actually propose," he said anxiously. "Any ideas?"

"Something quiet and intimate," Joey said. "Belle doesn't strike me as one for a big show."

Aden nodded his agreement.

"Any other ideas?"

"Just… tell her exactly how you feel," Joey said. "Let her know exactly how much you love her, how much you need her and how much she means to you. Let her know that you can't even breathe without her."

Aden grinned.

"Is that how you feel about Charlie?" he asked.

"How do you think I managed to forgive what she did?" Joey asked. "I love her so much and thought of not being with her now that I know what it's like to have her as my girlfriend, to hold her, kiss her… She's my world. Even when I didn't want her to be, she was. I didn't stand a chance of living without her."

"Hey, could you maybe write down what I should say to Belle?" Aden joked. "You're way more expressive than I am!"

Joey laughed and shook her head.

"You'll do it, Aden," she said. "And you'll be great. She'll say yes and she'll be thrilled and you'll have the most fantastic wedding."

"Speaking of," Aden ventured, looking rather nervous.

"No, I don't think I can marry you," Joey cracked. "I think that needs to be Belle."

Aden laughed.

"Would you be my best man?" he asked. "Well, woman? You know what I mean."

Joey was momentarily lost for words. She opened and shut her mouth a few times.

"Are you…? Are you serious?"

"Of course!"

"I was expecting you to ask Roman or someone like that," Joey admitted.

Aden shook his head and took her hand.

"Roman has been amazing to me," he said. "He's wonderful. And I have so many amazing friends in the Bay. And I know you and I haven't really known each other all that long but… I just… I feel like you're a best mate for life, you know? And I need someone I can rely on, someone I trust and love, to be by my side on the scariest, albeit it best day of my life."

Joey hugged him, happily accepting his request.

* * *

"Go for it," Martha said, desperate for help in the direction her life should take.

"Stay as far away from him as you possibly can," Charlie said very seriously.

Martha sat back, genuinely surprised.

"Was he that bad?" she joked.

Charlie laughed. _Actually, he really was_, she thought to herself. But she kept it in her head.

"If I tell you something you won't actually believe, would you try and believe it?" she asked.

Martha looked puzzled but nodded.

"I saw Jack," Charlie revealed.

Martha's puzzlement turned to shock.

"Excuse me?" she said. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

"I didn't believe it either," Charlie told her. "You know me, Martha. I don't go in for all that kind of thing, do I? But I saw him. I talked to him."

"When?"

"A few weeks ago."

"What happened?"

"He… helped me find my way back to Joey," Charlie explained.

"But why would he visit you and not me?"

"Because I needed him," Charlie said. "Like you needed him on the night he died. When you were caught up in the fire at the formal."

Martha nodded but looked unsure. She had been caught between her previously firm belief that she had seen Jack that night and the fact that it had been Angelo, his killer, who had taken her out of the burning building.

"But he… he was worried about you," Charlie said. "He was worried about you falling for Hugo."

Martha looked stricken.

"Is he angry with me?" she asked.

"No, no, of course not," Charlie said, touching her hand. "He's glad that you're healing and that you're able to live without him, even though you must miss him every day."

"Every moment," Martha agreed unhappily.

"But he said that Hugo wasn't the person he used to know, the person that he presents himself to be," Charlie said awkwardly. "He said he isn't to be trusted, that he's a bad man."

Martha shook her head and dropped Charlie's hand.

"He's a good man, Charlie," she insisted. "I know he caused problems with you and Joey but that was your fault too and…"

"I know," Charlie interjected. "I know. And it's not about that. I swear to you."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about what Jack said," Charlie reminded her.

"Jack's dead," Martha snapped.

She stood rather abruptly.

"I don't know what your game is, Charlie, but I'm not interested in another word you've got to say," she said.

With that, she stormed out of the Surf Club in tears.

* * *

_Next time… Martha considers hearing Charlie out…_


	22. Chapter 22

_Yay! I managed to squeeze in the second update! I do hate to leave things unfinished! I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Two**

Later, having had rather different days, Charlie and Joey sat on the beach together.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected it to go well exactly," Charlie sighed.

She rested her arms on her knees and her chin on her arms, gazing out at the sea, swept up in her own misery. She felt like she had failed Jack.

"I mean, she's in love with the guy," she sighed. "And it's not like I have any actual evidence of what he's capable of. Even with the police investigation, I have no actual proof that Hugo's involved in any of it. Angelo and I haven't got that far yet. I just know he is because of what Jack said. But that's not exactly going to stand up in court, is it?"

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, feeling comforted only when Joey shifted closer and put her arm around her.

"You tried your best, Charlie," the younger woman said. "That's all anyone can ask – including Jack. As long as you keep looking out for her and as long as you're there when the truth is finally revealed, it'll all be okay."

Charlie turned sideways and smiled affectionately at her girlfriend, grateful for her support.

"How did your day go anyway?" she asked. "Did Aden get a ring?"

"Yep," Joey confirmed. "And he asked me to be best man."

She grinned, genuinely excited. Charlie beamed at her and pulled her into a hug.

"That's awesome," she enthused. "Really great, Jo."

They parted when a shadow fell over them. It was Martha.

* * *

Five minutes later, all three women were assembled in a line, with Martha in the middle.

"What's Hugo caught up in?" Martha asked.

"I can't tell you," Charlie said awkwardly. "But it's bad. It's serious."

"Can I have a hint?"

"It's on a big scale," Charlie said. "And it's something very illegal and very immoral. If I hadn't had my experience with Jack, I don't think I'd actually believe it."

"And what?" Martha asked. "You've opened an investigation based on a ghostly visit?"

Charlie looked awkwardly at Joey, who nodded for her to continue.

"The um… the reason Angelo came back to the Bay was to work on a specific case," the police officer explained.

Martha jerked up straighter in alarm.

"The hand in the sand," she said worriedly.

"It runs deeper than that," Charlie said. "He has a mission to bring down a seriously criminal organisation. And Hugo is part of it."

She winced, hoping that Angelo wouldn't kill her for spilling the beans. But she had promised Jack that she'd do whatever it took to protect Martha.

"Wait, so you're expecting me to side with the man who shot my husband over a man I know he loved and cared for, a man he grew up with?" the widow demanded.

"No," Charlie assured her. "I don't expect you to have anything to do with Angelo. But I'm begging you not to have anything to do with Hugo either."

Martha shook her head. It was too much to take in.

"And I need you to not tell anyone about this," Charlie added. "I can't even list the amount of rules I've broken to talk to you about it. And even if you don't believe me, please don't tell anyone what you know."

"Not even Hugo?"

"Especially not Hugo!" Charlie said rather desperately. "If he knows the police are onto him, he'll run and then countless people will be hurt. The whole operation will come down around us."

Martha nodded. She turned to look at Joey.

"And you believe all of this?" she asked.

"I do," Joey confirmed.

"And not just because of what happened with Charlie and Hugo?" Martha asked.

Joey winced.

"I had a visitor too," she explained. "I know Charlie's telling the truth."

"It wasn't Jack, was it?" Martha asked a little bitterly. "He hasn't been going around the Bay visiting everyone but me?"

"No," Joey assured her, putting her hand briefly on her back.

"Jack loved you," Charlie added. "He only came to me because he was saving my life."

"Your life?" Martha asked worriedly.

"It's complicated," Charlie said, not really wanting to delve into the details. "But he came to me because I needed him to. It was nothing to do with affection. If those were the rules that governed this kind of thing, he'd be with you every single day."

Martha managed a smile.

"He wasn't even allowed to warn me, Martha," Charlie told her. "He broke the rules. He just loves and misses you so much that he couldn't stop himself. He wanted me to protect you."

"Do you think he's angry with me for falling for Hugo?"

"Not angry," Joey assured her. "Just concerned."

"Well, he doesn't need to be anymore," Martha decided. "I'll stay away from him. I'll keep quiet. I'll wait for the police to make their move."

* * *

It was the end of what had turned out to be a very long day. Charlie and Joey had opted for takeaway followed by a nice, hot bubble bath and a bottle of white wine. Lying back in the tub, Charlie closed her eyes, appreciating the feel of Joey's back resting against her.

"Are you going to tell Angelo what Martha knows?" Joey wondered.

"No," Charlie decided. "If it comes up then obviously I'll have to but if I can avoid it, I will. I do feel kind of sorry for him, with how much he's struggling at the moment but then, it is kind of deserved. And he does have quite the attitude problem to go with it. So the less I piss him off, the better. I just hope we can wrap this whole thing up quickly, get it over and done with."

"Then we can get rid of Hugo and Angelo both, hey?" Joey suggested hopefully.

Charlie kissed her temple and hugged her a little closer.

"That's the plan," she confirmed.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie prepares to introduce Joey to Ross and Morag while Aden and Belle get hitched…_


	23. Chapter 23

_Hi, everyone! I've been so crap with updating this week. I'm so sorry! But I endeavour to make it up to you with an update of every story over the next couple of days. Then I will be with my family for Christmas Day but hope to update more or less every day from Boxing Day. I know I'll be away for New Year and on the 28__th__ though. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. I'll see how many updates I can do this evening. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Three**

"So, what's the big surprise, Charlie?" Ross wondered, as he and Morag were welcomed back to Summer Bay.

It was the day before Aden and Belle's wedding and they had come to celebrate with them. Charlie had specifically asked them to arrive the day before as she had some news she wanted to share that she hoped they would be happy about.

Sat in the Diner with a coffee each, Charlie could hardly contain her excitement or her nerves. She had just opened her mouth to speak when Angelo walked in and approached the counter. He was one of the only residents not to be invited to the wedding.

"Ugh, I don't know how that man has the nerve to be back here," Morag said bitterly, shaking her head. "Martha has been struggling so much."

Charlie nodded, feeling more than a little bit guilty. She gathered that had she not interfered, Martha would have coped a lot better with everything if she'd had Hugo to support her. But she had gone from falling in love with him to staying away from him ever since she had learned that he was up to something bad, although she still didn't know what.

Tony had coped even less well, even going so far as to pretend to befriend Angelo, only to threaten to kill him. He'd planned a fishing trip with him, much to Martha's horror, before taking him up to the cliff top where Jack had been laid to rest. Angelo had been left fighting for his life at the top of the cliff by the time Martha had worked out what was going on and called Charlie and Joey for help. They'd arrived just as Tony had agreed to pull Angelo up again. And the policeman had tried to stay out of everybody's way since.

"Well, hopefully he'll get his case wrapped up soon and ship back out," Charlie said grimly.

They watched him leave.

"How has Martha been, in your opinion, Charlie?" Morag asked worriedly.

Charlie tried not to look crestfallen. She had brought her father and mother in law to the Diner while Joey got ready to try and impress them at home. She wanted to share her happy news and yet all Morag wanted to talk about was other people.

"She's coping," she said. "I'm keeping an eye on her. Don't worry."

"It's just that one minute, all she could talk about was that Hugo fellow," Morag said. "And now, I gather she's moved out to the farm and doesn't really see him. Has she fallen out with him?"

"I don't know," Charlie lied. "But she's okay, Morag. She's made of strong stuff."

Morag nodded and sipped her coffee.

"Anyway, your news," she said brightly.

"Yes!" Ross said, smiling. "What's so exciting?"

"Well, the thing is that I've met someone," Charlie admitted.

Both were surprised but pleased.

"Oh!" Ross said, silently remarking that it must be someone special for his daughter to make such a big deal out of telling them. "Who is he?"

"It's not Hugo, is it?" Morag half joked and half genuinely queried.

Charlie could not conceal a shudder of revulsion.

"No," she assured her. "Her name's Joey."

Both Ross and Morag looked blank.

"Sorry, darling, did you say 'her'?" Ross eventually asked.

"Yes," Charlie said. "I um… I've fallen in love with a woman."

She waited. They both looked startled as they attempted to process what she was telling them.

"You're in a relationship with another woman?" Morag eventually asked.

"Yes," Charlie said. "Her name's Joey, she's twenty five. She works down at the docks."

She looked at her father and added that she loved fishing. Ross grinned.

"How did you meet?" Morag wondered, curious about the latest development in her step-daughter's life.

"Through work," Charlie admitted. "She was a victim in a case and I helped her. But everything was above board. We didn't break any rules. It's all out in the open and work knows that we're living together."

"You're living together?" Ross exclaimed.

"Yes," Charlie admitted meekly.

"Well, I'll be…" he remarked.

She looked uncertainly at him.

"She must be quite something then," he declared. "For you to commit like that. How long have you been together?"

"Three months tomorrow, actually," Charlie said rather proudly.

She had something special planned for the love of her life.

"And when can we meet her?" Ross wanted to know.

"She's nervously waiting at home if you want to come back with me now," Charlie said. "She's really keen to get to know you."

"As we are her," Morag said cheerfully.

She drained her cup and stood up, leading the way out of the Diner.

* * *

Joey nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the back door open. She leapt off the sofa, brushed down her clothes and hoped desperately that she looked alright and would be accepted by her 'in laws'.

She took a deep breath and waited for Charlie to lead Ross and Morag into the lounge. She smiled when they appeared and her heart melted when her girlfriend beamed at her.

"Dad, Morag, this is my partner, Joey Collins," the police officer introduced. "Joey, this is Ross Buckton and Morag Bellingham."

Joey stepped nervously forward and shook both their hands, addressing them politely. All four sat down together on the sofas, Joey sticking closely by Charlie's side.

"Well, we have to admit this was quite the surprise, Charlie!" Ross chuckled.

"I know," Charlie managed. "The last thing I was ever expecting was to be attracted to a woman but…"

"I just mean falling in love at all!" Ross joked.

Charlie flushed. Ross leaned across and patted Joey's hand.

"I think you must be very special, Joey," he told her. "And I just wish you could have seen the pride with which she told us about you."

Joey gazed at Charlie who was now officially crimson.

"She was glowing," Morag agreed.

Neither Charlie nor Joey could seem to stop smiling. Joey dared to take Charlie's hand and was wholeheartedly accepted.

"Wait, are _you _the Joey that's Aden's best man tomorrow?" Morag asked, suddenly putting two and two together.

Joey continued to glow with pride.

"Yes," she explained. "Aden and I worked together on a trawler a few months back and we've been friends ever since. He and Charlie got me through some stuff and…"

"The case you were involved in?" Morag asked.

Joey nodded. She gripped Charlie's hand a little harder.

"Can I ask…?" Morag asked.

Charlie was about to tell her 'no' but Joey interrupted.

"I was attacked by another colleague," she explained. "But Aden got Charlie involved and between the two of them and Belle, I managed to tell the police what happened. The man who did it is behind bars now, although we still have the trial to go. But if it wasn't for Charlie, I wouldn't even be here now. She saved my life."

Ross smiled affectionately at his daughter.

"I always was very proud of you," he said.

Joey squeezed Charlie's hand, aware of just how long she had waited to hear those words.

* * *

It had been a lovely couple of days. Charlie didn't think it was possible to be happier than she was right now. She, Joey, Ruby, Xavier, Ross and Morag had all had a great time together the previous day and Charlie felt closer to her family than she'd possibly ever experienced before. Ross and Morag had accepted Joey with open arms and Ross and Joey had even plotted a fishing trip on their next visit.

Everyone had also made a point of including Xavier in everything. Neither Charlie nor Joey were fans of his brother and never would be they be but Xavier was a good kid and he and Ruby obviously adored one another. Charlie just hoped they wouldn't rush into anything too heavy too quickly. Her own first time had been hell on earth and she didn't want the same for the girl who thought she was her sister.

The wedding itself had been wonderful and Joey had done a great job as best man. Charlie had been ever so proud to have her as her date and she'd loved celebrating Aden and Belle's love. She'd even caught herself musing a wedding of her own sometime in the future. It had startled her but not frightened her, which in turn had also startled her. She knew with absolute clarity that Joey was the one person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She was the person she wanted to marry, have a family and a mortgage with. She was the person she wanted to grow old with and reflect on a life happily lived.

This evening was the mark of three months together and Charlie had arranged a romantic night underneath the stars with the woman she loved. She'd got a hamper from Leah, complete with champagne and she had hired the Blaxland from Alf. She'd brought music and cushions and recreated a night time version of the day that she and Joey had realised they were in love.

"This is so amazing, Charlie," Joey swooned, as they stood on the deck of the boat.

She gazed up at the moonlight and felt the warmth of the candles, their light flickering on the table top where they had eaten delicious food.

"Thank you," Joey added.

She turned and took both of Charlie's hands. This time around, there was no hesitation. Charlie smiled lovingly at her, gazing into her eyes.

"I was a bit worried you might think it was silly or something," she admitted. "But it was standing right here that I knew I was in love with you. And granted, I didn't handle it all that well but…"

She stepped closer and kissed her gently on the mouth.

"I think we've more than made up for any mistakes we made," Joey whispered.

They melted against each other's mouths. Charlie wrapped her arms around Joey who closed her eyes, savouring every moment.

"I love you so much," Charlie said, her words floating on the gentle breeze around them.

"I love you too," Joey replied.

She frowned when Charlie withdrew. The police officer moved over to the speakers she'd set up and Joey chuckled when 'their song' began to play. Charlie resumed her position and they two of them began to dance. There was nothing to keep them apart anymore.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey spend a happy night together but come back to earth with rather a bump…_


	24. Chapter 24

_Merry Boxing Day everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas, whatever you were doing and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Thank you, as ever, for your readership. It really does mean a lot to me. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Four**

Night was drawing in and Charlie and Joey were happily cuddled up on the deck of the boat. The idea had been to gaze up at the stars but they hadn't really looked at much but each other. And that was only when their eyes were open. Mostly, they were closed as they kissed passionately amid the cushions and blankets they'd set up to make themselves more comfortable.

"Mmm… if only we could have got up to these sorts of shenanigans on that first day," Joey giggled.

Charlie laughed and kissed her.

"If only," she said.

She shifted to lie on her side, catching hold of Joey's hand and beginning to play with her fingers.

"There are so many things I'd do differently if I had the chance," she admitted.

Joey reached out and wrapped both her arms around Charlie's neck, pulling her in closer. She kissed her with a passion that took her breath away.

"Everything worked out just fine," she whispered.

"Do you really mean that?" Charlie wondered.

"We're together, aren't we?" Joey said.

Charlie nodded.

"Well then," Joey concluded. "What could be more perfect than that?"

"I just wish I'd treated you better from the start, you know?" Charlie ventured. "I wish I hadn't been so stupid and afraid of my feelings for you when I should have just been thrilled that someone as incredible as you would even look twice at someone like me."

Even in the dim light, Charlie knew her girlfriend was blushing. And she found her bashfulness extremely endearing.

"I really am sorry for every bad thing I did," she added.

Joey turned and cupped Charlie's face with one hand. She looked deeply into her eyes.

"It's all forgotten, Charlie," she assured her. "All I care about is that you and I are here right now, that we love each other and want to be together. That's all that matters as far as we're concerned. We saw the past, the present and the future. We've learnt from it all and we're changing the stuff that we can. We're making it better."

Charlie nodded, turning her head slightly in order to kiss Joey's palm.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Care to show me how much?" Joey asked rather wickedly, changing the tone of the conversation.

"Yes, please!" Charlie grinned.

Joey immediately set to work.

* * *

The following morning, Charlie and Joey were still happily living in their lover's dream when they climbed off the Blaxland and back towards the car where they planned to go for breakfast at the Diner and then give the keys back to Alf.

"I am so hungry!" Joey remarked.

"Well, we work up quite the appetite last night," Charlie grinned, slipping her arm around Joey's waist as they prepared to cross the road.

Joey giggled.

"I thought that was burning off our dinner!" she said.

"We went overboard," Charlie said. "Well, not literally."

Joey laughed. Then she froze.

"Look out!" she screamed.

Charlie turned and saw a car speeding towards them. Acting on instinct, she shoved Joey out of the way. But there was only time to save one of them. The car knocked her over.

Joey landed hard on the ground. She scraped her hands and knees and the wind was knocked out of her. She didn't pause. She leapt back up and rushed straight over to Charlie, lying barely conscious on the ground.

The car had come to a stop a short distance away. Joey ignored the man as he stumbled out of the driver's seat. She just cried her girlfriend's name, trying to wake her up at the same time as she attempted to pull out her phone and call an ambulance.

"What's happened?" said a voice behind her.

She turned to find Angelo approaching. She never thought she'd be glad to see him but she was. As soon as he spotted Charlie, he broke into a run, skidding onto his knees as he tried to make sure she was alright.

"Call an ambulance," Joey begged, clutching Charlie's hand and praying for her to wake up.

Angelo dialled without argument.

"She came out of nowhere!" the driver announced, approaching them.

Recognising the voice, Joey looked up sharply and came face to face with her brother.

"You fucking liar!" she screamed.

Brett and Angelo were both shock. Noting that Angelo was in uniform, Joey advised him to breathalise her brother and drag him to the police station.

"Lock him up for the rest of his life for all I care," she murmured.

Angelo obeyed, although he looked reluctant to leave Charlie's side. Joey didn't see him as a threat but she was under no illusion that his feelings for her girlfriend were platonic. She had seen the future and just because Charlie had changed, it didn't mean Angelo had. She had seen the way he looked at her. She recognised the sense of longing. It was a look she'd worn on her own face not that long ago, although she hoped she hadn't been quite so obvious about it.

* * *

It was twenty minutes later and Joey and Ruby were waiting anxiously at the hospital with Leah, Ross and Morag. Charlie had been taken into surgery with a suspected hip fracture, although the new Doctor, Sid Walker, had assured them that her injuries were unlikely to be life threatening. The family were all still terrified though.

Angelo had called Watson and they had taken Brett in for questioning about the accident and Joey knew she and Charlie would be called in to make statements too. Joey was convinced that her brother had been drinking and she wouldn't be surprised if he had aimed for Charlie on purpose. She always tried to think the best of people but she held her brother responsible for a lot of the things that had gone wrong in her life.

"How long do you think it will take?" Joey wondered. "To fix her hip and everything?"

"It'll probably be a while, Joey," Morag said. "Surgery takes time. Why don't you sit down?"

Joey paused in her frantic pacing and nodded. She sank into a seat beside Ruby, who took her hand.

"What happened, Joey?" Ross wondered.

"We were just crossing the road," Joey said. "We were going to get breakfast at the Diner and give Alf the keys back to the Blaxland. Oh! The keys!"

She still had them in the pocket.

"I'm sure he'll understand the delay," Morag assured her.

Joey nodded and relaxed again, grateful for the support of Charlie's family. It was something she had never experienced with her own.

"A car came round the corner and hit us," Joey explained. "It was a drink driver, I think. My brother."

"It was Brett?" Ruby exclaimed.

Joey nodded, feeling guilty and responsible.

"What's the history there?" Morag asked cautiously.

"Brett hates that I'm in a relationship with Charlie," Joey explained. "He helped us nearly break up but since then, I've been ignoring him."

"Are you saying he hurt Charlie on purpose?" Ross asked.

"I don't know," Joey said. "It might not have been Charlie he was aiming for."

Everyone looked confused.

"Charlie saw the car and shoved me out of the way," Joey admitted.

She hung her head, waiting to be admonished. Ruby dropped her hand but only to put her arm around her.

"If ever there was any doubt that she loved you, hey?" she joked gently.

Joey laughed softly and nodded but she was desperately afraid that her girlfriend may have ditched one awful future for a worse one.

* * *

Several hours later, Charlie woke up to find Ross, Morag, Joey, Ruby and Leah all crowded around her. It took her several moments to figure out where she was and why everyone was staring at her. Then the pain kicked in and she remembered what had happened.

"Joey, are you okay?" she asked urgently.

She flushed when everyone chuckled.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," Joey assured her, taking hold of her hand.

She lifted it to her lips and kissed it tenderly. Ruby couldn't help but smile at the genuine affection between them. She didn't exactly know how they had worked things out that night but she was glad they had.

"It's you we're all worried about," Joey added.

"I'm okay," Charlie said. "My hip hurts."

"You fractured it," Ross told her. "You had to have surgery. But the Doctor said that everything's okay now."

Charlie nodded but winced in discomfort.

"What happened?" she wondered. "I mean, that car, it just came out from nowhere."

"It was Brett," Joey revealed. "But Angelo found us and he and Watson took him to the station. They're dealing with him."

"But it was an accident though?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Joey admitted. "But I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"And you're okay though?" Charlie checked. "You're not injured?"

"Just a couple of scrapes," Joey said. "Thanks to you. You saved my life."

Charlie smiled weakly. They were interrupted by the arrival of a new Doctor.

"Ah, Charlie, is it?" he said brightly.

He was fresh faced and eager, having obviously just started his shift. Doctor Walker had apparently gone home.

"That's right," Charlie said.

"I'm Doctor Hope," the man said. "I'm glad to see you're awake. Now, the surgery went well with no complications. It was a bit tricky, thanks to you having such a small pelvis but I'm sure you've heard that to death from where you had your caesarean."

Charlie, Joey and Ross looked stricken. Ruby, Leah and Morag looked confused.

"I've never had a caesarean," Charlie said quickly.

"You must have," Doctor Hope said, furrowing his brow. "You have the scar."

"I haven't had a caesarean because I've never had a baby," Charlie said emphatically.

"Her scar is from appendicitis when she was very young," Ross lied. "The scars can look similar."

The Doctor looked baffled but ploughed on.

"Anyway, surgery was tricky but we fixed everything that needed to be fixed," he explained. "You'll need painkillers and physio and a couple of nights in hospital, not to mention a lot of rest when you get home but we should have you fit and healthy soon enough. Okay?"

* * *

It was the evening before Charlie and Joey were alone together. The afternoon had been spent with the family and Charlie had batted away a lot of questions from Ruby about why the Doctor had thought she'd had a baby.

"It's time, isn't it?" Charlie said unhappily.

Joey sat by her side and held her hand. They were both thinking of the future they'd seen where Ruby learned the truth about how she'd come into this world.

"I think so," Joey replied.

"How can I tell her the truth?" Charlie wondered, her voice catching. "She'll hate me."

"She won't be happy," Joey agreed. "It'll be a shock to her. But you'll get through it. The three of us will get through it together. We just have to make sure we do it right."

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Joey tell Ruby the truth…_


	25. Chapter 25

_Sorry this update is a bit late. Have you ever had one of those days that just doesn't seem to start because every time you try to do something, you get interrupted!? It's been rather like that. But anyway, it's not worse that what our girls endure in this chapter. So… enjoy…! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Five**

It was a few days later and Charlie was relieved to be allowed to come home. Ross and Morag had visited the hospital every day but, finally agreeing that she was okay, they had returned to the city. Leah had driven Ruby and Joey to collect their injured loved one and bring her back to the house.

"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked fretfully as she helped her sister sit on the sofa. "We did bring the pain medication home, didn't we? Do you need more cushions? Are you warm enough? I could go and get a blanket…"

"I'm fine, Rubes," Charlie said gently, touching her arm.

The teenager flushed, embarrassed at her own concern. The truth was, she had been terrified when she'd heard about Charlie's accident. She hadn't realised until now, how afraid she was of losing her.

"But um… could we have a chat?" Charlie asked.

Ruby froze, looking terrified. She watched Charlie exchange anxious glances with Joey, who nodded and sat beside her. Leah bustled off out of the house. She didn't know what was going on but she figured it was private so wanted to give them some space.

"What's wrong?" Ruby worried.

Charlie patted the space on the seat beside her. Joey was on the other side. Charlie took a deep breath.

"There's um… there's some stuff you need to know that I've never told you before," Charlie began.

"What stuff?" Ruby wondered.

Charlie looked at Joey, who took her hand.

"Do you remember at the hospital when the Doctor was talking about a caesarean scar?" the police officer asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said. "But you said he was wrong, that it was your appendix."

"I lied," Charlie admitted.

Ruby looked bewildered.

"I don't understand," she said. "If you've got a caesarean scar then you must have had a baby. You don't have…"

She caught the look of sheer heartbreak in the eyes of the woman she believed was her sister.

"You have a child?" she asked, shock evident in her voice.

Charlie looked at Joey again, grateful for the support.

"Yes," she said. "I have a daughter."

Ruby sat up straighter.

"Why… why don't I know this?" she wondered.

"I had her very young," Charlie explained. "And I had to give her up because I wasn't capable of being her Mum. I loved her with every beat of my heart, every breath in my body but I just… couldn't."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully.

"How old were you?" she asked.

"Fourteen," Charlie replied.

"Fourteen?" Ruby shrieked.

Charlie winced at the judgement in her voice. She looked, panicked, at Joey, who gently nudged her to tell the whole story.

"The thing is, Rubes, that I was attacked," Charlie ventured.

Ruby stared at her, her mouth hanging open.

"Sorry?"

"I was attacked," Charlie repeated. "My boyfriend at the time assaulted me and I got pregnant. I was terrified and I didn't know what to do. I didn't tell anyone and I had the baby. I tried… I tried so hard to be a Mum but… I ran away. I gave her up."

Ruby reached out and held Charlie's free hand.

"I can't even imagine how awful that must have been for you," she empathised. "I'm so sorry, Charlie."

Charlie swallowed, looking down at the joined hands. She just hoped that Ruby's understating and compassion would last.

"I tried my best, Ruby," she said. "I really did. And it was never a case of love. It was just a case of being so broken and so young and not being able to cope."

Ruby nodded quietly.

"When I left, I fully intended to come back and be a mother," she said. "I thought I could leave and heal and then be what my daughter needed me to be but it just… didn't work out like that."

Ruby looked confused for a moment.

"Where did you go?" she asked. "What happened to the baby? If you were fourteen, Mum and Dad must already have been dealing with me and…"

Charlie's face told her everything she didn't want to know.

"No…" she managed, the word getting stuck in her throat. "No…"

"Ruby…"

"Charlie, tell me right now that I've jumped to the completely wrong conclusion," the youngest Buckton begged.

"You're my daughter, Ruby," Charlie told her.

Ruby just stared at her.

"How… how could we be having this conversation?" she demanded.

The bitterness in her voice cut Charlie like a knife.

"I'm sorry for lying," Charlie said. "I did want to come back and be your Mum. I really did. But by the time I was able to come home, it was too late."

"Too late how?" Ruby asked.

"I'd been gone a year," Charlie explained. "You didn't know me. I was a stranger to you and you looked at Mum and Dad like they were your parents. It broke my heart but we agreed that best way forward was for them to adopt you and for you to be raised as my sister and not my daughter."

"How?" Ruby snapped, dropping Charlie's hand and leaping to her feet. "How the hell was it ever the best thing to do, to turn my whole life into a lie?"

"Ruby, it wasn't like that," Charlie said. "We just wanted to be happy."

"Then why ruin it now?"

"We knew that it would come out eventually," Joey put in. "And we knew that you deserved the truth. And you deserved it in the best possible way."

Ruby glared at her.

"And how long have you known?" she snapped.

"A few weeks," Joey admitted.

Ruby looked disgusted.

"And you don't have a problem with your girlfriend being such a fucking liar?" she asked. "Well no, I guess you don't. I mean, how low must your self-esteem be to still be dating her after she fucked Hugo behind your back?"

Without giving either of them a chance to respond, she stormed out. Charlie collapsed against Joey and wept. Joey immediately wrapped her arms around her, holding her close and kissing the top of her head.

"She'll come back," she promised. "She just needs to breathe and think and then she'll come back and we'll talk it all through properly, okay?"

"Okay," Charlie sobbed.

Joey kissed her temple again.

"We'll get through this," Joey told her. "The three of us. Together."

* * *

_Next time… Ruby tries to process the situation…_


	26. Chapter 26

_For The One They Warned You About. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Six**

It took a while but Ruby did eventually return home to face Charlie, who, thanks to Joey, had patiently waited for her without charging out after her on her bad hip.

"I feel like my whole world just exploded in my face," the teenager said bluntly, sitting down on the chair beside the sofa and looking directly at the woman she thought of as a sister.

"But for the record, I'm sorry for how I spoke to you when I left."

She looked at Joey.

"Both of you," she added.

Joey smiled sadly at her, wondering if she and Charlie would ever properly explain what had happened on the fateful night they had nearly broken up. She hoped they would. She wanted them all to be a family.

"I'm just glad you came back," Charlie said sincerely.

"Well, it's not like you could run after me, hopalong," Ruby smirked.

Charlie and Joey both laughed, taking Ruby's humour as a good sign.

"So um… could you please explain what on earth you were telling me before?"

Charlie swallowed.

"I'm your biological mother," she admitted.

Ruby stared at her, studying her face, as if searching for her own features.

"And you were… raped?" she asked quietly, a lump aching in her throat.

Charlie nodded. She was relieved when Joey silently took her hand, offering her never ending support. She had no earthly idea how she would get through any of this without Joey's love and not for the first time, wondered what she had been thinking that night when she had allowed Hugo to take her home with him.

"And you couldn't keep me?"

Charlie winced.

"I wanted to, Ruby," she said urgently. "I really wanted to. I tried. Please know that I tried. I was just so broken and I…"

She was surprised but happy when Ruby held her other hand.

"I get it," the teenager said gently. "I mean, I don't. I do. I… I can't even imagine what you must have gone through. It's…"

She shook her head.

"It's horrific," she said. "It's… Was it your first time? Did that man… take your virginity?"

"He did," Charlie confirmed.

"I guess that explains some stuff," Ruby mused.

Charlie tensed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like… um… you've struggled to attach to people," Ruby ventured. "Until you met Joey, you struggled with relationships and stuff."

Charlie nodded and chewed her lip, looking anxiously at Joey.

"Well, I nearly screwed this one up too," she said. "I _should _have. I _did_. It was only because…"

She struggled to find the words.

"Only because Joey's my soul mate that she's still here," she eventually said. "Really, after what I did, she should have dropped me immediately."

Joey lifted Charlie's hand and kissed it.

"I'm here because I love you," she said.

"Did she tell you what happened to her?" Ruby asked. "Is that part of why you stayed?"

"I found out a lot of stuff that night," Joey said. "And that was part of it. But the honest reason why I stayed, why I wanted to give us another shot is because I can't live without Charlie. I know exactly how much I love her and how much I need her."

She looked at Ruby, who nodded.

"I know that feeling," she said thoughtfully.

Charlie tried not to look too hopeful.

"I'm confused by all of this," Ruby confessed. "I'm horrified. I'm… I'm hardly even able to understand how I feel right now. You've been my sister all my life and suddenly you're my mother. And even weirder is that for a lot of the time, especially since we moved here, because you've been my guardian, I've kind of seen you as a Mum."

Charlie allowed herself a small smile.

"I'm freaked out and I'm scared," Ruby continued. "I'm totally lost. I'm angry that you lied to me. And I'm disgusted by the violence I came from. Part of me just wants to run so far away from you that I never see you or Dad or anyone else that's been part of the big, fat lie that's my life again."

Charlie looked down, feeling like her heart was breaking.

"But then I remember how I felt in the hospital, when I thought you might die, when I found out you'd been hit by that car," Ruby added. "I remember what it felt like to lose you and I understand what Joey's saying about how awful it would be to live without you and I… I know we have to work together to get through this. I know I can't run away."

"Do you really mean that?" Charlie asked, hardly daring to believe it was true.

Ruby nodded, still feeling anxious. She allowed Charlie to hug her. Joey sat back as mother and daughter held on tightly to each other.

"I love you so much, Ruby," Charlie said sincerely. "And I'm so, so sorry for lying. Please… please give me a chance to make it up to you. Please?"

"I love you too, Charlie," Ruby replied. "We can… try."

* * *

It had been a strange, stilted day, with lots of awkward breaks in conversation but Charlie, Joey and Ruby had persevered. They'd got takeaway for dinner and spent a lot of time talking about the past, the present and the future.

On request, Charlie had shared a little more about Ruby's conception and adoption, although those conversations had been the hardest. They all knew they were the first of many but they all agreed that it was better to talk things through than to ignore them. The issues were not going to go away.

Charlie and Joey had even told her the details of what had brought them back together that night and were relieved that she had believed them.

"So, you really spent the night with ghosts of Summer Bay past?" she asked incredulously for the millionth time.

"Pretty much," Joey said.

Her own head was still spinning over everything that had happened, although she was thrilled by the outcome.

"And you saw Jack, Charlie, and you saw some guy called Shane?"

"Yeah, he was the husband of my old babysitter," Joey explained. "Really nice guy. He died of septicaemia on his first wedding anniversary. It was so sad. He was lovely."

"What was it like?" Ruby wondered. "Like, did they look like they did on earth?"

"Exactly the same," Charlie confirmed.

"Could you touch them or did your hands go through or…?"

"Touchable," Charlie said. "But when we visited each scene, we were invisible."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully.

"And they took you all through your pasts?" she asked.

Both women nodded.

"And that included… what happened to you?" Ruby enquired more quietly of her mother.

"Yes," Charlie replied, equally subdued. "We saw the attack and then your birth."

"That must have been painful," Ruby said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Joey echoed the sentiment. The vision of what her girlfriend had been through, added to her own personal experience, was burned into her memory forever. And she hated it.

"But you saw the future too?" Ruby said, changing the subject.

"Yep," Charlie said. "Joey's was awesome and mine sucked."

"Yeah, I can't believe what would have happened if you hadn't managed to keep Joey," Ruby said, pulling a face at the thought of Charlie dating Angelo and then moving onto a River Boy. "I mean, seriously, Charlie, what were you thinking?"

"I didn't actually do it!" Charlie protested, laughing.

She shuddered at the thought. She had accepted Angelo and was helping him with his mission to bring the human trafficking ring down but she could not believe that even without Joey she could ever be romantically interested in him. But then she could fortunately only imagine the pain she would have been in if Joey had left her. She was just grateful it had never become a reality.

"And that Brax guy?" Ruby persisted. "I mean, I think I've seen him around and he's hot and everything but he's a criminal, Charlie!"

"Seriously!" Charlie complained. "I didn't do it! I am never _going _to do it! It was a horrific future that I have avoided! Stop telling me off!"

She threw in a pout for good measure, making Joey chuckle and kiss her temple. Charlie smiled and snuggled up to her. Ruby smiled too, happy that they were happy.

"Well, I'm glad you stayed together," she said honestly. "And I think it's a testament to how much you love each other that Joey gave up the cool future she saw to be with you."

Charlie smiled sadly, still a little fearful that Joey would one day regret it. As if sensing it, Joey hugged her a little closer.

"This is the future I want," she whispered. "Exactly like this."

"And this wasn't the future I ever expected," Ruby put in. "But… I think we can go with it."

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Angelo make some progress on their case…_


	27. Chapter 27

_Sorry for the delay – the last two days didn't quite go to plan! I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

It had been an unsettled few weeks but Charlie, Joey and Ruby were slowly getting their heads around everything that had happened. It was confusing for all of them and difficult to adjust to the truth being out there. Charlie felt pain at the shift in her relationship with her daughter. Once upon a time, Ruby would have turned to her with anything but sometimes, she felt like she regarded her as a stranger. She doubted Ruby would ever see her as a mother but she hoped that they could try somehow, someday.

Joey had been wonderful in keeping them together as a unit and Charlie had been extremely grateful for that. She had put a lot of emphasis on them doing things together and had been instrumental in keeping the lines of communication open.

"Okay, so we have all of this evidence," Charlie said to Angelo. "What are we meant to do with it?"

She was at work and had called her colleague to a meeting about the human trafficking case. She was keen to get everything tied up as quickly as possible.

"We need something that will actually tie Hugo to it all," Angelo replied. "On its own, this is all nothing."

"Well, what would prove or disprove Hugo's involvement?" Charlie wondered, perusing the evidence in front of her.

They had gathered a hell of a lot since the case had begun.

"DNA," Angelo said. "We have blood from an unknown on Lou's boat…"

"You still think he was involved in Lou's death?" Charlie asked.

Her mind was still reeling a little from all the revelations.

"Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that Lou was killed at exactly the same time that Hugo was apparently 'bitten by a shark'?" Angelo asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, okay," Charlie agreed.

She sighed, chewing her lip and pondering her options.

"How can we get DNA?" she asked.

"I could always punch him in the face," Angelo offered with a smirk.

Despite herself, Charlie laughed.

"Legitimately," she reminded him. "Something we'd be able to use in court."

Angelo sighed heavily.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, maybe it's worth getting something inadmissible just to check and then deal with the legitimacy later?"

"No," Charlie said. "We have to do this properly, Angelo. We can't mess this up."

* * *

That evening, Joey decided that she and Charlie should take Ruby out for dinner and then to the Surf Club for soft drinks and perhaps a round of pool. Having enjoyed their meal at the Diner, they were having a good evening together. Mother and daughter were definitely starting to relax a bit more with each other, which was a sign of improvement.

"Someone looks happy," Joey remarked as they took their seats.

Hugo was sat at the bar, slumped over a beer and looking miserable. Ruby rolled her eyes and Charlie grimaced. The sooner she could remove that man from all their lives, the better. She hated having him around, reminding her of the worst mistake she'd ever made. She knew she was forgiven and that she and Joey were stronger than ever now but memories got stuck in her throat whenever she saw him, especially now knowing that he was the epitome of evil. Plus, she hated the ghost that Martha had become since she'd found out that the one person she'd learned to trust since losing the love of her life, wasn't the man he pretended to be. The sooner Hugo was jailed, the better it would be for everybody.

"I wish he'd just leave town," Ruby stated. "Nobody wants him here."

"I'll second that," Charlie agreed.

They all looked up as Angelo entered the bar.

"Speaking of which," Ruby remarked.

"He's not so bad," Joey sighed.

Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"After the future you saw?" she asked.

Charlie and Joey both chuckled.

"Rubes, you realise that the future didn't actually happen, right?" Charlie checked.

"That's not the point," the teenager insisted.

Both adults looked blank.

"We're all the same people, aren't we?" Ruby said. "Well, maybe that night changed both of you but none of us had that experience. So if Joey hadn't stayed, if you hadn't been able to make it work and heaven forbid, you'd ended up with _him_, he'd _still _have treated you like crap. So he can be as nice as he likes now, begging redemption or whatever but in a relationship, given half the chance, he'd still control you and he'd still neglect you. He'd still be one of the world's worst boyfriends and therefore, I still don't like him."

"She makes a good point," Joey decided.

Charlie looked over at Angelo who was glaring at Hugo's back. The diver hadn't yet noticed.

"I'm gladder than ever that you stayed," Charlie said. "You really did save me from hell."

"We can call it even," Joey said, squeezing her hand.

Charlie leant over and kissed her, just as Hugo turned around and sneered at them.

"Oh look, it's the happy fucking couple," he slurred.

Joey clenched her jaw. Charlie felt her tense against her hand.

"Don't rise to it," the police officer whispered.

From his own seat, Angelo watched with interest.

"Why is it that your life suddenly got so perfect and mine turned to shit?" Hugo demanded.

He wobbled off his chair and took a couple of unsteady steps towards them. Charlie fought against all the things she wanted to say to him. She had to be patient, keep her cards close to her chest if she was going to make him pay properly for the things he had done.

"I mean, it's not fair, is it?" Hugo demanded. "You fuck someone as a kid, get pregnant, lie to your daughter and she _still _loves you!"

Charlie stood up, immediately angry. Joey and Ruby both stood too.

`"Charlie, he's not worth it," Ruby warned quietly.

"Then you turn gay, change your mind and fuck _me _behind your girlfriend's back and _she _still loves you!" Hugo declared. "I mean, how the hell does that happen? What's so damn special about you, Charlie? And what did I ever do to lose it all?"

Everyone knew he was talking about Martha. She had been avoiding him ever since Charlie had warned her off. He stepped forward, threateningly close.

"Don't think for a second that I don't know that you interfered with my friendship with Martha," he said. "And I swear I'll make you pay for that, Charlie."

Suddenly, he fell back. Before anyone knew what was happening, Angelo had him in handcuffs.

"What are you doing?" Alf demanded, hurrying out from behind the bar.

"Hugo Austin, you're under arrest for threatening a police officer," Angelo told his suspect.

"What the hell?" Hugo argued, struggling under the restraints.

Angelo made eye contact with Charlie, who knew exactly what he was thinking. This was potentially a perfect opportunity to get some DNA.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie and Angelo make further advances in their case…_


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

"I should do you for harassment," Hugo warned.

"And I should do you for a lot of things," Angelo shot back.

Charlie stood in the corner as the two men faced off in the interview room. Hugo had grudgingly agreed to give a DNA sample just to shut Angelo up but he vigorously denied threatening behaviour towards a police officer.

"Like what?" Hugo challenged.

"Like, what were you doing the night Lou DeBono was murdered?" Angelo asked.

"I believe that was around the time that I was nearly killed by a shark," Hugo replied.

"Oh yes, the terrifying, invisible shark that never actually existed," Angelo mocked.

"What the fuck are you talking about now?" Hugo snapped. "All I did was snap at Charlie for driving Martha away. If she wasn't a cop, it wouldn't be a problem, would it? But you all stick together, don't you? You all band together and try to intimidate civilians."

"Not a word that comes out of your mouth is true," Angelo told him.

* * *

It had been an exceptionally long evening and Joey, who had been patiently waiting for Charlie at reception with Ruby, was very glad to go home. Angelo had let Hugo stew for a little while but had known all along he'd have to let him go. The point was that he'd legally obtained fingerprints and a DNA swab, which they could now hopefully match to the unknown blood sample on Lou's boat, which meant that they might finally have a lead on their case.

"I am so tired," Charlie complained, pulling her girlfriend into her arms.

"Let's go home," Joey said, taking her hand and leading her and Ruby both out of the station.

On the way out, they were surprised to bump into Martha and a small Indonesian child.

* * *

At lunch time the next day, Charlie gratefully met up with Joey on the beach for food and comfort. She'd ended up staying at work for another hour and then had had to go in early that morning. They both comforted themselves with the idea that the sooner the case was solved, the sooner the likes of Hugo Austin would be out of their lives for good.

"So, you're testing Hugo's DNA to see if it matches the blood you found on Lou's boat?" Joey clarified. "And in the meantime, Xavier and Romeo found some kid that Martha's taken under her wing. And you think that he's an illegal immigrant, connected with this whole human trafficking thing that Hugo's operating?"

"That's about the size of it," Charlie said glumly. "Oh, and did I tell you Angelo made the poor kid cry?"

"How?"

"He stole his toy!"

"Why?"

"He had some hunch that someone had put something in it," Charlie explained. "I mean, he was right. There was some sort of code they were trying to decipher but still… he was only a child."

Joey put her arm around her.

"Just focus on the future, okay?" she said.

"What do you mean?"

"In the future, Hugo was gone," Joey said. "And I know we've changed a lot of stuff but I think that will stay the same. You'll still get to the bottom of all of this. You'll sort this whole thing out and save the day. Everything will be okay. We'll all be happy again."

Charlie smiled.

"As long as I'm with you, I'm happy anyway," she said. "No matter the stress, I can deal with it. You always make my world a better place."

She enjoyed the way Joey blushed and leant in to kiss her.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Joey replied. "Always."

* * *

It had been a week of stressful situations but the joy in Charlie's life remained at home, happily waiting for her with a smile on her face. Joey came home from work each day and cooked dinner for the whole family, including Leah and VJ and made a point of trying to get Charlie to relax. They were both also working hard at keeping the lines of communication going with Ruby after the recent revelations. Work, however, remained unfortunately busy.

"We've got him, Charlie!" Angelo announced triumphantly, bursting into her office.

Charlie jumped up, eager to hear confirmation that Hugo had shed blood on Lou's boat that night.

"Really?"

"He's a perfect match to the blood on the boat," Angelo said. "We might not have a link to the human trafficking yet but it's definitely a start. I'm about to bring him in now. Are you coming?"

"Um… I need to make some calls," Charlie said. "You get him and I'll meet you here."

He nodded, grabbed Watson and raced out of the station.

* * *

"Joey, I'm so sorry," Charlie said, as soon as her girlfriend arrived at the police station.

She had tried to phone her as soon as Angelo had gone out to collect Hugo but she hadn't answered the phone. In recent weeks, the couple had started sharing Charlie's car and today, Joey had custody and the idea was that she would pick Charlie up from work and take her out to dinner.

"I tried to call you," she said. "But you didn't pick up."

"Sorry, I must have been driving already," Joey apologised. "Hands free isn't working."

Charlie hugged her and then apologised, explaining that she would have to stay at work for a bit longer.

"How come?" Joey asked, reminding herself to be supportive and unselfish.

Charlie led her girlfriend into her office and shut the door.

"Angelo and Watson and bringing Hugo in now," she explained. "He's a match for the blood found on Lou's boat."

"Wow," Joey said. "So, you're really making progress then?"

"Looks like it," Charlie said.

They were interrupted by Avery knocking on the door.

"Charlie, we've had a development," he said.

"The blood match?" Charlie asked.

"No," he replied. "The code in the kid's toy. They've deciphered part of it and it looks like it might be a number for a shipping container."

Charlie stood up quickly, asking Joey to wait.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Charlie was back with Joey, apologising all over again.

"What's happening?" Joey asked worried.

"Angelo and Watson have brought Hugo back," Charlie said. "I'm leaving them to question him and I'm going down to Port Heron to check out the shipping containing."

"With Avery?" Joey asked.

"No," Charlie said. "We're short staffed. I'll go by myself and then come back here and hopefully you and I can get to dinner before midnight."

She apologised again.

"I don't like the thought of you doing that on your own, Charlie," Joey said worriedly.

"I'll be fine," Charlie assured her, pulling her into a hug. "Besides, Hugo's here. He's the one to be afraid of."

"And whoever the hell he's working with," Joey pointed out. "Why don't I come with you?"

"Well, it's not really protocol…"

"Hey, when have we ever followed the rules?" Joey smirked.

Charlie laughed and agreed. The more time she got to spend with her girlfriend, the better.

* * *

_Next time… Angelo interrogates Hugo while Charlie and Joey investigate Port Heron…_


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

"So… what are we meant to do now that we're here?" Joey wondered, when Charlie pulled up outside the shipping containers at Port Heron.

The police officer killed the engine but kept the headlights on and sighed.

"I don't actually know," she admitted. "I just sort of acted on instinct by coming out here. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to find."

Joey unstrapped her seatbelt.

"Well, let's investigate then," she said brightly. "We'll catch the bad guys, Hugo can go to jail, Angelo can go off and do whatever he wants to do and you, me and Ruby can focus on having a happy future together."

Charlie smiled.

"Angelo's not that bad," she mused.

"No," Joey agreed. "But the less people making moon eye at you, the better. That's my job."

She leant over and kissed her before climbing out of the car. Charlie climbed out too but hesitated.

"Joey, this could be dangerous," she pointed out. "Maybe you should…"

"Be around to back you up instead of waiting out here and being useless?" Joey finished.

Charlie grinned and kissed her again. They headed inside the building together.

* * *

"Can I at least call my brother and let him know where I am?" Hugo asked the police officers that had come to his home to bring him in for questioning.

He was stalling for time and they all knew it. He put his hand in his pocket and hurriedly sent a pre-set text to his contact, a code that had been set in place long before he had ever settled in the Bay, should things go wrong.

"We'll call him when we get to the station," Angelo informed him. "But right now, we need to get you there and find out what the hell you've been up to all these months."

"Look, I don't know what your problem is but I haven't done anything wrong," Hugo denied.

"We'll see," Angelo replied.

He nodded to Watson, who handcuffed him.

"Hugo Austin, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Lou DeBono," he said. "And this time, there's fuck all you can do to get out of it."

They dragged him out of the house and towards their patrol car.

* * *

With a torch each and Charlie's hand free to grab her gun if necessary, she and Joey entered the warehouse, carefully exploring it, anxious of what could be lurking behind each corner.

"What was the number of the container?" Joey asked.

Charlie stopped walking and dug the piece of paper out of her pocket and showed it to her girlfriend. Joey lifted the torch, flashing the beam onto the numbers around them.

"Then it should be down there, I think," she said.

Charlie nodded and they walked onwards.

* * *

Hugo sat in the now too familiar interview room, opposite Angelo and Watson.

"No Charlie today?" he asked with a smirk.

Ever since she had ruined his blossoming relationship with Martha, he had hated her. And it made it worse that somehow, while he felt he had lost everything, she was wandering round town, smug and self-satisfied with the woman she loved and the daughter she had lied to for years.

"She's busy," Angelo said. "Hopefully bringing in more evidence against you. Not that we don't already have enough to hold you with now."

Hugo leant forward and glared at him.

"And what the hell do you think you've got to hold me with, Angelo?"

"It's Constable Rosetta to you," Angelo snapped back.

"You don't even deserve a name," Hugo said. "You murdered my cousin. You left him to die and you lied to his whole family. You're scum. You should be rotting in jail, having the shit kicked out of you and worse by every criminal in there."

"Well, when you get there yourself, you can send them all my regards, can't you?" Angelo replied.

He swallowed but otherwise refused to show he was rattled. This was not how he had hoped things would turn out. He knew returning to Summer Bay would be difficult. He knew people hated him. But he had hoped things would settle down quicker, that the residents might eventually learn to forgive and forget. And he had hoped that Charlie would fall in love with him. But she didn't notice anyone but Joey these days. She'd moved on.

"Why on earth would I end up in prison?" Hugo demanded. "I'm not a murderer like you are."

"But you are," Angelo countered. "You murdered Lou DeBono, didn't you?"

"Of course I didn't kill him!" Hugo snapped. "I barely even knew the guy!"

"Then why don't you talk me through what happened?" Angelo suggested, sitting back in his seat and feeling rather pleased with watching him squirm.

This was why he had braced himself to come back to the Bay, after all.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hugo denied.

Angelo sat forward again. Hugo winced and hoped his text message to his colleague had had the desired effect. If Charlie was out collecting evidence against him, he could be in a lot of trouble right now. He felt sick.

"Tell me," Angelo said. "Have you ever been in Lou DeBono's boat?"

"No," Hugo said. "I told you. I barely knew the guy."

"Then why did we find your blood on the deck?" Angelo asked.

Hugo's mouth hung open in shock.

* * *

Charlie and Joey had found the right shipping container but it was padlocked shut and they couldn't get in, no matter how hard they tried.

"This is ridiculous," Joey complained, leaning against the box they were trying to get into.

"We need to get a team down here," Charlie agreed.

They were interrupted by a phone call.

"Avery?" the Senior Constable said by way of greeting.

"We've decoded the rest of the message," her colleague said, getting right to the point. "It's a phone number."

"Text it to me?" Charlie requested.

She hung up and then asked Joey to go back to the car to get anything she could find that might get the container open. She didn't want this to be a wasted journey.

"I'll be quick," Joey promised, leaving. "Don't wander off."

Charlie assured her she would stay put. Her phoned beeped. She dialled the number that came through. Her phone had it stored as Hugo's.

* * *

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Hugo denied, trying not to show the panic in his voice.

They were interrupted by Avery knocking on the door.

"Constable Rosetta, there's been a development," the officer said.

Angelo nodded and left Hugo alone with Watson.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Charlie phoned the number they deciphered in the kid's toy," Avery explained. "We had it in custody. It was Hugo's."

* * *

Charlie continued to try and battle with the lock on the shipping container. Hearing a noise behind her, she turned around, hoping it was Joey. It wasn't. For the briefest moment, she saw a man approaching, his arms raised. Then everything went black.

* * *

_Next time… Joey saves the day, Geoff helps Ruby and the police make a grim discovery…_


	30. Chapter 30

_Hi, everyone. I hope you all had a good weekend. And that you all enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirty**

Angelo returned to the interview room and sat down in front of Hugo. He put his suspect's mobile phone down on the desk.

"Do you recognise this?" he asked.

"It's my phone," Hugo replied. "I'm not stupid."

"We deciphered a code we found in that Indonesian kid's toy this evening," Angelo told him.

"So what?" Hugo said, although inside, he was rattled.

He knew exactly where this interrogation was leading.

"And part of the code was a phone number," Angelo explained. "_Your _phone number. Do you want to explain that?"

"I can't," Hugo said, feigning ignorance.

"You can't?" Angelo questioned.

Hugo shrugged.

"You have no idea how your phone number ended up inside the toy of an illegal immigrant child?" Angelo asked. "Hugo, do you think _I'm _stupid?"

"I don't want to get into any more trouble by answering that question," Hugo replied.

Watson supressed a smile. She had accepted Angelo but that didn't mean she liked him. That approach seemed to go for all of the officers in the station, including Charlie.

"The code also contained the number of a shipping container down in Port Heron," Angelo said. "We've got an officer down there right now."

Hugo tensed.

"Any idea what they'll find?" Angelo asked.

"I have no idea what you're getting at," Hugo said. "I don't know what you're accusing me of."

"You're lying," Angelo stated. "And I'm telling you now that it'll be much better for you if you start co-operating or else you're going down for even longer."

* * *

Joey struggled back to the shipping container with several car tools to try and get the thing open. She halted when she saw her girlfriend slumped on the ground, a figure standing over her. She placed everything but the wrench she'd found, quietly on the floor. Then she stealthily lurched forward and attacked.

She knocked Charlie's assailant to the floor. He collapsed in a heap. She ignored him, skidding to Charlie's side instead, calling her name and begging her to be okay. With trembling fingers, she pulled out her phone, relieved to find she had at least one, tiny bar of reception. She called an ambulance. Then she called the police.

* * *

"Angelo, we've had a call," Avery said, interrupting the interview yet again.

Angelo tried not to be irritated. It wasn't like Hugo was giving him anything anyway. The whole thing was hanging by a thread. He had hoped his suspect would cave but he was standing firm and refusing to confess to a thing. It was more than a little frustrating.

"Why don't you try and remember your involvement in all of this while I'm gone?" he suggested, standing up and exiting the room.

Outside the room, he got straight to the point.

"What's so important?" he asked. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Charlie got attacked down at Port Heron," Avery explained, biting his tongue and refusing to get annoyed with his colleague. "She got knocked out by a mystery assailant."

"Where's the guy now?" Angelo asked.

Avery silently noted a lack of compassion about Charlie's condition.

"Fortunately, Charlie took Joey with her and she was able to tackle him," Avery said. "They're all headed over to the hospital now. I'll go over there and find out who it was. But we need to bring in more staff to go down to the shipping container. Joey said she could hear noises inside before they left."

"Noises? What kind of noises?"

"She wasn't sure but… whatever Hugo and his gang are keeping inside there… they're alive," Avery said. "We need to get on this immediately. There's no time to waste."

* * *

"I just don't understand what's going on," Xavier said anxiously.

"I wish I could help you but…" Ruby faltered.

The couple were at the Diner having a milkshake, having just heard from the town's local gossip, Colleen, about Hugo's arrest.

"Well your sister's a cop!" Xavier snapped. "Or your mother or whatever the hell she is."

He glared at her, as if it was her fault somehow. She looked wounded. Geoff glanced round from another table, his expression halfway between melancholy and concern.

"Xave, you know Charlie's work has nothing to do with me," Ruby reasoned. "And we've only heard about this from Colleen. It might not even be true."

"I can't get hold of him!" Xavier exclaimed.

He thumped his fist on the table, making her jump. Geoff whirled around and asked if everything was okay.

"Everything's fine," Ruby said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Geoff persisted.

"It's none of your damn business," Xavier snapped.

They were interrupted by Ruby's phone ringing. It was Joey. And it wasn't good news.

* * *

Having not got anything out of Hugo anyway, Angelo had slung him into a cell and headed down to Port Heron with Watson where a team of fire fighters were trying to open the shipping container.

"Okay, we're nearly there," one of the officers said.

Angelo nodded and stepped up close, wondering what on earth they would find there. The door was prised open. They shone torches inside. Angelo immediately looked away as bile rose in his throat. Inside the small, cramped space were a dozen emaciated, half dead asylum seekers.

* * *

"I need to see my Mum! Charlie Buckton! My Mum! I need to see her now!" Ruby demanded of the receptionist as soon as she and Geoff arrived at the hospital.

On the phone, Joey had confirmed that Hugo had been arrested so Xavier had wanted to go to the police station to find out what was going on. Geoff had been kind enough to take Ruby to the hospital instead.

"Ruby, we're in here," Joey said, appearing from a side room.

Ruby ran to her, flinging herself into her arms. Geoff hung back in the corridor, deciding that it was a family moment and not wanting to intrude. He looked up when a police officer escorted a man on a bed from one room down the corridor, presumably for some sort of a treatment or a scan. Geoff froze and then hurried after them.

"Excuse me," he said.

Avery turned around in surprise.

"Yes?"

"What's going on with this man?"

"Do you know him?" Avery asked, cautious but hopeful.

His suspect had been unconscious since Joey had hit him outside the shipping container and he hadn't yet been able to make an ID.

"Well, I don't know his name but… he terrorised Nicole and I on an island a few months ago," Geoff explained.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie reassures Ruby and Watson takes control…_


	31. Chapter 31

_Yay! I managed to update this one in time! I hope you like it. I think this story will be wrapping up soonish, although I'm not far enough ahead yet to know when exactly. Love, IJKS xx_

**Chapter Thirty One**

Charlie lay in her hospital bed. She had a headache and was shaken up but otherwise felt fine and certainly hoped that she didn't need to spend the night here. She wanted to go home and cuddle up to the woman who loved her. All she hoped was that despite all the trauma of the night, she and her team (and Joey) had got somewhere with the case and that the human trafficking ring might be starting to be brought to a close now.

"So, _what_ happened to you?" Ruby asked, even though her mother had already told her the story.

"I got attacked by some guy down at Port Heron when I was trying to open the shipping container," Charlie explained again. "But fortunately, Joey insisted on going down there with me so when she came back from the car, she was able to stop him hurting me or taking me anywhere."  
"Well, thank God for you," Ruby breathed.

She shook her head in disbelief.

"I just can't…" she managed.

She took Charlie's hand and held it tight. Charlie was moved by the gesture.

"How did you get here?" Joey asked.

"Geoff brought me," Ruby revealed.

"Geoff?" Charlie asked, surprised.

She assumed it would have been Xavier.

"Xavier was more concerned with Hugo being in custody," Ruby explained. "So Geoff took pity on me instead."

Charlie nodded.

"So… what's the deal with Hugo?" Ruby asked as casually as possible.

"I can't say," Charlie disappointed her. "But it'll become clear soon enough."

She glanced at Joey.

"I hope," she added.

"Well, Xave's going mental about Hugo being in custody," Ruby mused.

Charlie looked seriously at her.

"Whatever is about to go down is going to be painful for him," she said, careful not to give anything away. "Make sure you're there for him, okay?"  
Ruby nodded, promising to ensure she was a good girlfriend.

"I have no doubt," Charlie said.

They were interrupted by a tentative knock on the door. Geoff poked his head in.

"Ruby, I need to go to the police station," he said. "But if you give me a call when you need me, I'll come and collect you as soon as I can."

He looked at Joey.

"Both of you, if you like."

Joey smiled at him, touch by his kindness.

"Thank you," Ruby said. "But why do you need to go to the police station?"

"It's the strangest thing," he said. "I just ran into the guy that terrorised Nicole and I on the island that time. He was in hospital with some sort of head injury. I mean, I don't know what he's involved in but I identified him and the police want me to make a statement immediately."

Charlie and Joey exchanged glances. Geoff stepped further into the room.

"Sorry, Charlie," he said. "I didn't even ask how you are."

"I'm okay," she said. "Headache. But alright."

"I hope you feel better," he said sincerely. "Were you attacked or something?"

"Caught in the line of fire," she said. "Fortunately by the blunt end of a gun."

"I really hope you get well soon," he said. "I'd better go. Ring me, Ruby, okay?"

"Thank you," Ruby replied.

The teenager turned to back to her parents once her friend was gone.

"Something to do with you and this whole Hugo debacle?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Yep," Charlie sighed. "I seriously want this day to be over."

She sank back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Joey moved closer and took her hand. She kissed her forehead ever so gently, not wanting to hurt her when she was already in so much pain.

"Today has been a huge, huge step," she reminded her. "Soon, we can put all of this behind us."

* * *

"So, are you going to start talking?" Angelo asked.

He had returned to the police station with Watson, leaving a guard at the hospital with a man Geoff had helped them identify as Derrick Quaid. And being that Derrick had attacked Charlie at the shipping container, in which they had found a number of half dead illegal immigrants, he was certain he and Hugo were part of the same team. Derrick was currently unconscious, thanks to Joey, he thought he would give Hugo a head start in the race to see who would start talking first.

"About what, exactly?" Hugo replied nonchalantly.

"How about the illegal immigrants we found in the shipping container down in Port Heron?" Angelo said. "The emaciated, half dead ones that look like they've been through hell and not yet got through to the other side."

"That sounds terrible," Hugo replied, his face impassive. "I hope you catch whoever's responsible."

Angelo shook his head in disbelief.

"Why don't you tell me about Derrick Quaid?" he suggested.

"Derrick who?" Hugo countered.

"The man we found down at the shipping container," Angelo said. "He nearly killed Charlie, by the way. Although I'm sure a man of your low standing probably doesn't much care about that."

Hugo sat back, looking cool, calm and collected.

"Well, Charlie will always have a special place in my heart," he mused. "We did have that one incredible night together. Well, I guess you know how that feels."

He leant forward.

"Senior Constable Buckton kind of gets about a bit, doesn't she?"

"I don't think Charlie's personal life is a suitable discussion right now," Angelo said, trying to remain professional. "Yours on the other hand…"

"Doesn't it kill you, Angelo?" Hugo asked.

"What? That I'm sat across from murdering scum?"

"_You're _sat across from murdering scum?" Hugo balked. "Looked in the mirror lately? And have you developed amnesia or do you actually recall that you killed my cousin and left him to die alone, in the dark?"

The two men glared at each other. Watson joined them at the table.

"I think we're getting off point," she decided.

She turned directly to Hugo.

"We found a code in the toy of that little kid, Bambang," she said, getting right to the point. "It directed Charlie to a shipping container in Port Heron where she was nearly killed by Derrick Quaid, who is now also in hospital. As soon as he wakes up, I'm in no doubt that he'll roll over on you before he's so much as asked where he is so I suggest you strike up a conversation with us first."

Angelo was torn between jealousy and being impressed by her handling of the situation.

"What the hell makes you think that I have anything to do with any of this?" Hugo asked, his question directed at Watson.

"Because within the toy that directed us to the shipping container, was also a phone number," Watson replied. "_Your _phone number. If you have a reasonable explanation for that, I'd love to hear it."

Hugo swallowed, momentarily stumped.

"I haven't done anything wrong," he lied.

"Hugo, nobody is ever going to believe that now," Watson said almost kindly. "So why don't you just make it as easy on yourself as possible? Start talking, give us a chance to at least understand what you're caught up in?"

Hugo sighed.

"Fine," he relented. "But I'm not talking to _him_."

* * *

_Next time… the case begins to wrap up and Charlie and Joey look to the future…_


	32. Chapter 32

_I'm so sorry I didn't update yesterday. Everything just got on top of me. There will just be a couple more chapters of this before we reach the end so I hope you enjoy the rest of it. This is the last update before I leave you for Easter but I will be back with you on Tuesday. I hope you all enjoy the Easter celebrations. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirty Two**

It had been one of the longest nights of both Charlie and Joey's lives. Neither of them had slept and Joey had point blank refused to leave the hospital, although they, along with Geoff, had just about persuaded Ruby that she needed a good night's sleep.

Hugo had confessed his role in the human trafficking to Watson, although he had not let go of his hatred of Angelo. Derrick, having woken up and been identified by Geoff, had also rolled over on his employer and now the battle was on as to who was get the plea and the lighter end of the deal. Both men were suddenly playing ball and being ever so helpful in assisting the police in finding the leader of their gang, a woman called Suzy, based in Indonesia, who also happened to be Hugo's wife.

News of the night was spreading around the Bay already. Xavier was distraught and letting the world all about it while Gina had remained tight lipped and rather shocked. Nobody quite knew what to say to them or how to help. Martha remained holed up at the farm. Although she had had more warning about what was about to go down, it still hurt a great deal. And she missed Jack more than ever. She had never felt so alone in all her life.

"I wonder what's going on out there," Charlie mused, watching the window to her small hospital room.

Joey remained by her bedside, holding her hand.

"Chaos, I imagine," she sighed.

"Hopefully I'll be discharged later today," Charlie said, glancing at her watch.

It was five thirty in the morning. She was exhausted but she knew she couldn't sleep. Even injured, she was in cop mode. And even without being a cop, Joey seemed to be on the same level of alert. It really had been a frightening evening.

"And then you've got to take it as easy as possible, okay?" Joey warned. "I know there's a lot to sort out but you have to be careful. I came so close to losing you tonight and I'm not doing that…"

She broke off, surprising herself with tears. Charlie reached over to hold her.

"I'll be careful," she promised, kissing the top of her head. "I swear. I don't want to lose you any more than you want to lose me. I was terrified tonight and I don't ever want to go through that again. I have two wonderful things to live for now and I'm not foolish enough to let them go."

Joey smiled and kissed her tenderly on the mouth.

"I love you so much," she whispered.

"I love you too," she replied. "With all my heart."

* * *

Having had no time to recover from her injuries, Charlie had been thrown back into work in order to close the case. However, she had been promised two weeks leave as soon as everything was done, for which she was planning to book a holiday for her and Joey.

"I still think they owe you way more than a couple of weeks," Joey grumbled, as Charlie got ready for work.

"Maybe," Charlie conceded. "Unfortunately, this is the way my job works. But I do have a plan to make it all up to you."

Joey moved forward and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist.

"I don't care about me," she said. "I care about you and the stress this has put you under."

Charlie hugged her close.

"Well, hopefully today, court will be the start of the end of all this," she said. "Then we can move on into a future that we both want."

They kissed.

* * *

"Now, are you sure you don't want to come?" Charlie checked. "Because I can call the hotel right now and make an extra booking."

The week had ended and the judge had remanded both Hugo and Derrick in custody for a series of serious offenses. The asylum seekers were being safely taken care of in hospital and although the town was still in a state of shock the fall out hadn't been as bad as it could have been.

"No, Charlie," Ruby said firmly. "You and Joey need a nice, romantic, mushy holiday together and that doesn't involve a third wheel hanging around."

"You're my daughter," Charlie pointed out.

"Yeah, you wouldn't be a third wheel," Joey agreed.

"Honestly, I'm fine here with Leah," Ruby assured them. "You two go and have a good time."

She smiled broadly and hugged them both goodbye, silently resolving not to let them know that she was suffering in any way. The truth was that after everything had kicked off with Hugo, Xavier had rejected her. He was distraught over what his brother was capable of and seemed to associate her with her mother's involvement in bringing him down. She was therefore pretty convinced that they had broken up. But Charlie had been through so much already that she didn't want to put any more pressure on her.

"As long as you're sure?" Charlie double checked.

"Sure I'm sure," Ruby enthused.

They hugged one more time before Ruby and Leah bustled the couple out the door.

* * *

The following day, having settled easily at their holiday resort, Charlie and Joey were lounging hundreds of miles away from Summer Bay on the remotest bit of beach they could possibly find. After all the stress of the past few months, they were just happy to be together, particularly to the exclusion of the rest of the world.

"I'm so relieved that this whole thing is almost over," Charlie admitted, relaxing back on her towel underneath the hot sun.

"What's next?" Joey asked. "Just the court case? Nothing that's going to injure or damage you in any way again?"

"Just the court case," Charlie assured her.

Joey shifted onto her side. They smiled affectionately at each other and caught hold of each other's hands.

"So maybe now we can start thinking about that future we were hoping for?" she mused.

Charlie grinned and nodded.

"So, Charlie Buckton, you and I finally have the rest of our lives together," Joey said. "What would you like to do with it?"

"Anything so long as I'm with you," Charlie said honestly. "I mean, my future sucked every which way but the worst part of it was that you weren't there. So, as long as I get to keep you for the rest of my life, I'm happy."

Joey couldn't help but smile at her.

"Okay, so… a year from now, where would we be living…?" she persisted.

"Well, I love living with Leah but I do quite like the idea of me, you and Ruby have a place of our own," Charlie admitted. "Maybe even owning our own place."

She held her breath, in case Joey rejected the idea. But Joey was beaming at her.

"That sounds pretty wonderful," Joey agreed.

"What about you?" Charlie asked. "Do you have any dreams?"

"I want to carve out a career of some sort," Joey confessed. "I just don't quite know what it is yet."

She blushed. Charlie squeezed her hand.

"We can work on that," she said. "We'll find the right thing and then we'll set it in motion."

"I love that you have so much faith in me," Joey admitted.

It still felt a little strange sometimes, after a life of being told she was useless, to be with someone who genuinely believed she could be anything.

"How could I not?" Charlie replied sincerely.

* * *

That night, after a nice and rather expensive but definitely romantic meal at the hotel, Charlie and Joey had escaped to their room where Charlie had left Joey opening a cheeky bottle of champagne while she ran the hot tub in the bathroom.

"Uh oh," Joey heard Charlie squeak from the other room.

"What 'uh oh'?" Joey asked, putting the as yet unopened bottle down and heading into the bathroom, which appeared to be quickly filling up with bubbles.

"Charlie…" Joey said, a warning tone in her voice.

"I'm sorry," the police officer managed.

"You know, I'm sure I told you _not _to put bubbles in there," Joey smirked, their feet already getting wet. "_Three _times."

"Well, I thought you were just being overly cautious," Charlie protested.

Joey's mouth hung open in offence. Charlie offered her a cheeky grin. Returning the smirk, Joey scooped up some bubbles, immediately launching into a water fight. Giggling, the girls slipped and slid across the bathroom, landing in the bath fully clothed. They paused to turn off the water, although not the pump, splashing each other and making the bubbles worse and worse until they were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. Giving in, they fell into each other's arms and kissed.

"Now this is a future I can subscribe to," Joey swooned.

Charlie kissed her tenderly.

"Can I try and make it a hundred times better?" she asked, eagerly peeling off her girlfriend's wet clothes.

* * *

_Next time… Charlie faces the test of meeting Brax…_


	33. Chapter 33

_Sorry for the two day absence – everything got a little busier than I expected. I may or may not update tomorrow. I won't be updating on Thursday. But I will update on Friday. This is the second to last chapter and to the reader who wanted me to write Charlie dumping Joey and getting it on with Brax, I think it's unlikely – sorry! I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirty Three**

It had been a year and things were still going strong between Charlie and Joey. After all that had happened with Hugo, he had been jailed for fifteen years, as had Derrick and their colleague, Suzy. All had tried for plea bargains but the judge had been so incensed and disgusted by their actions that no half-hearted recommendations by the police had made any difference.

Charlie had shot up the ranks to Sergeant of the station, something that had made Joey extremely proud of her. And, impressed by how Watson in particular had played her part in the situation, she too had been promoted - to Leading Senior Constable. She had been rather pleased at gaining her own office too.

There had also been quite the celebration at Angelo being stationed way out on the other side of the country. He hadn't been promoted but remained on the force, as agreed and allowed to start again somewhere completely new. Part of him was sad to leave Summer Bay behind. Part of him had hoped that things might have miraculously turned around for him somehow, that he might win the war, get the girl and become the hero. But it hadn't happened that way and by the end of it all, he was just glad to still be standing.

Joey's career choice had surprised everyone, including herself. She had gone back to University to get a nursing qualification and won a place to do her practical at the local hospital where she was now working under the new local doctor, Sid Walker. Far from running fishing trawlers or working in bait shops, she now felt like she had found a surprise new calling. It was challenging and sometimes stressful but she loved it. It meant something very special to her.

Ruby was starting her final year of school and had decided that she wanted to follow in Morag's footsteps and study Law at University once she'd finished. Charlie was beyond proud of her daughter and felt like everything in her life was coming together at last. Everything had been worth the wait.

"Hello, ladies," a male voice greeted Charlie, Joey and Ruby from where they had been having lunch at the Diner.

They turned to find Darryl 'Brax' Braxton hovering by their table, holding a handful of leaflets. Charlie froze. She had been aware for a while now that this was the time that her future had told her she would meet the River Boy, the time that he would lead her to her death. She relaxed just a little when she glanced at Joey who merely rolled her eyes and didn't look at all threatened.

"Can I interest you in our opening night?" Brax asked, offering out a leaflet.

"Not in the slightest," Joey replied, taking the lead.

For the past few weeks, there had been uproar in the Bay. Brax, the leader of the notorious surfing gang, the River Boys had got permission from the council to open up a restaurant and bar called Braxtons with a nightclub above it called the River Club. None of the residents wanted it. Leah was particularly concerned about the trade it would take away from the Diner and a lot of people, especially the police, were worried about the clientele a business run by someone like Darryl Braxton would attract.

"Oh, come on," Brax coaxed. "It's be a fun night. First drink's on the house. All sorts of samples of our menu and free entry to the club upstairs."

"We're not interested," Charlie said pointedly.

"Are you sure you don't want to be there?" Brax asked, adding as much charm to his voice as possible.

He had always had quite a thing for Charlie, even if she was a cop.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll show up," Charlie said confidently. "Undoubtedly I'll need to arrest most of your guests. And your staff. Probably even you."

"I don't know what you're implying," Brax protested in mock offence.

"I'm not implying anything," Charlie told him bluntly. "I'm saying that we don't want your business here. You are a violent criminal and you lead a gang of violent criminals."

"That's not fair," he said, his strong jaw set in annoyance.

"You fight, you lounge about the beach with nothing better to do all day…"

"I'm _trying _to do something better with my day…" he argued.

"You deal drugs to vulnerable people," she interrupted. "You intimidate people, you do goodness knows what else. I hate every call that comes in that takes me over to Mangrove River and it makes me sick that the council even considered letting a Braxton set up his business here. So I'm telling you now that the moment you take a wrong step and I _know _you will, I will shut you down and watch you crawl back under whichever surf board you came from."

He glared at her.

"I'll just leave you with a flyer then," he decided, placing one on that table. "In case you change your mind."

Then he turned and approached the next table, hoping that they might be a little more receptive. Charlie turned back to her girlfriend and her daughter.

"So, that future's really not going to happen then," Ruby remarked.

Charlie snorted with laughter.

"Definitely no attraction?" Joey teased.

Charlie laughed harder. She leant across and kissed her.

"Why on earth would I even look anywhere else when I've got you?" she asked.

Joey blushed and stole another kiss.

"You two are way too cute," she decided. "And I'm so glad that Dad got to be happy for you before…"

She looked down sadly. Ross had passed away a few weeks before. The three of them and Morag were still slowly healing from their loss. Charlie and Joey both instinctively reached over and held a hand each.

"We um… we wanted to talk to you about something over lunch actually," Charlie ventured after a moment.

"What's that then?" Ruby wondered.

"Well, you know we saw our futures last year?" Charlie said.

"Yep," Ruby said. "That is still too cool."

She grinned.

"Well, in Joey's future, she had a child," Charlie explained. "A stepson. And we… well, we've been talking and we've decided that… as long as you didn't object… that we would look into trying for a baby."

She swallowed anxiously.

"What do you think?"

Ruby sucked up the very end of her milkshake, deliberately taking her time. Then she looked up at her parents. She grinned at them.

"I think that's one of the best ideas you've ever had," she confirmed. "No objections here."

* * *

_Next time… We look further into Charlie, Joey and Ruby's future…_


	34. Chapter 34

_Sorry I didn't manage to update yesterday. I was rather more exhausted than I expected to be. I probably won't be updating tomorrow as I am going to see Pink in concert tonight and then staying over at a friend's house but I should be able to update on Saturday but if not Sunday (as Saturday would have been my Dad's birthday so it's a bit of difficult day emotionally). But anyway, this is the final chapter of this story so I really hope you like where Charlie and Joey end up. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirty Four**

_Seven Years Later…_

"Okay, now we're playing the quiet game, okay?" Charlie whispered. "Remember what we talked about in the car?"

The five year old boy, RJ – Ross Junior – nestled in between her and Joey in the crowded hall frowned and contemplated his options. He had never been one to stay quiet.

"Why again?" he asked his mother.

"Because this is a very special day for your sister and we need to be very well behaved," Charlie explained for what must have been the millionth time.

Today, Ruby was graduating from University with a Law degree and Charlie, Joey, RJ and Morag, along with Ruby's boyfriend, Casey Braxton, their friend, Aden Jeffries and his girlfriend were in the front row, waiting to watch her receive her degree with honours.

In her final year of school, as she had been preparing to go to University and while Charlie and Joey had still been trying for a baby, Ruby had started dating Casey. With his brothers being the leaders of the infamous River Boys, who were causing no end of trouble in the Bay, Charlie had, she felt understandably, hit the roof and there had been all out war in the town, including at home, for a good long while. Eventually, Charlie had accepted that Casey was actually not such a bad kid and he had proved time and again that he genuinely loved Ruby and she had learnt to accept their relationship.

The conflict and then the resolution had brought Charlie into regular contact with Casey's eldest brother, Brax. As Jack had shown her, he had regularly displayed an interest in her and although she could almost understand a different version of herself seeing something nice in him, she was glad that that version of herself didn't exist. She was happier with Joey than she had ever thought it possible to be, even while they had struggled to get pregnant. They and Ruby had moved out and rented their own home together and then at the end of the school year, Charlie had been offered a promotion at work. The job offer involved a move to the city, where they could be close to Ruby while she started University.

So, when the time came, all three of them, plus Casey, who had been eager to leave the Bay and get away from the gang warfare that seemed to only be getting worse, moved away and started again. There, they had got settled into their new roles – Charlie as a Detective at a new police station and Joey, who was still nursing but at a new hospital – and become reacquainted with Aden, who had moved away from the Bay in the intervening years.

Belle had died shortly after they had married and after a brief and doomed relationship with Nicole, he had left town in a bid to heal and start again. Charlie and Joey had kept in touch with him but, having ended up living nearby again, they'd become much closer friends. He had agreed to be the sperm donor for the child they were so desperate to have and to play a role in their son or daughter's life and this time, they had conceived much more easily. It was like it was meant to happen that way, unlike the other times they had tried before.

"Can I talk when Ruby's just sitting down?" RJ asked.

On the other side of him, Joey chuckled. Her son looked pleased.

"Joey, you're not helping!" Charlie complained.

"Sorry!" Joey replied, still grinning.

She reached around the back of RJ's chair and touched her partner's hand.

"No," she explained carefully to the little boy. "We need to be very quiet and polite during these bits and then when Ruby comes on stage, we can cheer for her as loud as you like and show her just how proud we are of her."

"Really loud?" RJ asked hopefully.

That sounded like just the volume he enjoyed.

"Really loud," Joey confirmed.

"Deal?" Charlie asked.

"Deal," RJ agreed.

"Shall we shake on it?" Joey suggested.

The tot looked confused. He solved his problem by doing a little jig in his seat, sending his parents erupting into giggles that got them hushed by people around them.

"How do you expect your son to behave when his parents don't?" Morag enquired, the hint of amusement on her lips.

Charlie blushed and put her arm around RJ, who was still a little puzzled over what had been so funny. She kissed the top of his head.

"I don't know," Aden mocked. "Leave the parenting up to these two…"

"Yeah, right!" Joey shot back. "I see more and more of you in him every day."

Aden grinned.

"We're a very strange family aren't we?" he mused.

"But it works," Charlie decided.

"You're also very disruptive," a woman a few seats down complained. "We're meant to be paying attention."

Charlie glared at her.

"The ceremony hasn't even started yet," she pointed out.

Casey stifled a smile at the fact that _he _was the once meant to come from the bad side of town and yet he was the quiet one in this rowdy lot today.

She looked up as the head of Ruby's University stood and cleared his throat.

"And _now _we'll be quiet," Charlie said pointedly to the complainer.

* * *

As promised, Charlie, Joey and the rest of their clan behaved throughout the ceremony but were the very loudest cheerers when it came to Ruby's turn to collect her certificate. They got scowled at by the complainer but nobody cared. This was their future, one they had carved out for themselves and made their own and nobody was going to ruin it.

* * *

_Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I really hope you have enjoyed it. Much love to you all, IJKS xxx_


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